Timbavati/Umbabat Private Nature Reserve, unfenced Greater Kruger bushveld
Stays / Timbavati Private Nature Reserve, South Africa

Motswari Private Game Reserve

Illustrative photograph, not this property · Lucie Burlet / Pexels
private lodge 15 guest rooms at Main Camp, maximum 30 guests

Motswari has been family-owned for around 50 years on roughly 18,000ha of unfenced Timbavati bushveld — the same region where white lions have occasionally occurred naturally, though a sighting is never guaranteed. Guided walking safaris are included alongside standard drives, and a treehouse sleep-out platform is available for guests wanting a night under the stars.

Illustrative photograph — not this property. Photo: Regan Dsouza via Pexels.

What sets it apart

Sits in the specific stretch of Timbavati associated with naturally occurring white lions, a genuinely rare regional trait.

Who it suits

Travellers drawn to Timbavati's white-lion history and wanting included walking safaris rather than drives only.

The essentials

CountrySouth Africa
WhereTimbavati/Umbabat Private Nature Reserve, unfenced Greater Kruger bushveld
Property typeprivate lodge
Rooms15 guest rooms at Main Camp, maximum 30 guests
MalariaTimbavati Private Nature Reserve is confirmed as a malaria area at the reserve level (with active vector-control programmes); no property-specific statement was found for Motswari itself.
Illustrative photograph — not this property. Photo: Mitch Mitchell via Pexels.

What it costs

No fixed nightly rate was found; pricing is dynamic/enquiry-based on the official site.

About the photographs

The pictures on this page are stock photographs chosen to suggest the kind of setting this property is in. They are not photographs of this property, and we cannot verify exactly where any of them was taken — a stock library records the photographer, not the place. We use them rather than borrow the property's own marketing images, which would imply we had stayed there. For pictures of the actual rooms, see the property's own site.

What the sources describe

Taken from the property's own description and the listings cited below — not a checklist we filled in.

Pool overlooking the Sohobele River
Guided walking safaris
In-room massage/spa
Two bars
Library/art gallery
"Giraffe's Nest" treehouse sleep-out