Perfect Location

The Lowveld has a rich and textured history spanning centuries. While perhaps best known as a big game viewing destination, the Lowveld area is much, much more.

Throughout the Lowveld and surrounding areas is evidence of early San civilisations, as well as groups of people living there during the Bronze and Iron ages. But it was in the 1800’s that the area truly became recognised with the discovery of gold in the Sabie / Pilgrim’s Rest area. The first payable gold was discovered near the town of Sabie in 1873 and the ensuing gold rush saw significant development in the area until the mid-1880’s when alluvial gold deposits dwindled and the many prospectors moved to more promising sites in the Barberton area. Big mining companies moved in to the area, and the importance of mining to the country’s economy was demonstrated when Pilgrim’s Rest became only the second town in South Africa (after Kimberley) to be electrified in 1911. Mining was suspended during the Anglo Boer War – when the district remained largely in Boer hands, and resumed afterwards, yielding record production.

Further East of Hazyview, the end of the 1800’s saw the emergence of a new awareness for wildlife conservation; a movement that has gathered momentum and resulted in the formation of one of South Africa’s most significant conservation success and tourist attractions, the Kruger National Park.