Hills and farmland seen from a rocky outcrop in Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary, Eswatini

Parks and reserves, Eswatini

Big Game Parks

A private not-for-profit trust that runs wildlife parks, reserves and lodges across Eswatini. VDO represents it. Start here: who they are, where the parks lie, how it began, and how to ask.

hectares at Hlane Royal National Park: 22,000
hectares at Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary: 4,560
hectares at KaMsholo Bushveld Safaris: 700
kilometres between Hlane’s two camps: 16
rooms at Reilly’s Rock Hilltop Lodge: 6

As the trust states them, read on its website on 5 November 2026.

A trust, not a tour company.

Big Game Parks protects a great diversity of habitat across Eswatini and offers a broad range of ways to see it. Three things to know before you read on.

Conservation first

Formal conservation in Eswatini began in the late 1950s, when Ted Reilly saw the kingdom’s wildlife disappearing. Since 1960, 22 species of larger game that had gone locally extinct have been brought back.
Rooted in the kingdom

Hlane is held in trust for the nation by His Majesty King Mswati III. The trust is the delegated authority on the Game Act and CITES, with an anti-poaching unit answerable to the King’s Office.
It pays its own way

The trust says it is self-sustaining, without financial subsidy from government. Tourism and conservation revenues cover its costs, and donors make the large projects possible sooner.

A beautiful but impossible dream.
Said of Mlilwane at its official opening in 1964, as the trust tells it.

Choose a place on the map.

Four parks and a lodge, from the valley nearest the capital to the southern border. Select a number to read about it.

A simple outline of Eswatini, not to scale for travel. Positions are each place’s published coordinates; the outline is from Natural Earth. The trust publishes directions for each park on its own pages.

1MlilwaneIn the Ezulwini Valley, between Mbabane and Manzini
2HlaneIn the lowveld, with two camps 16 kilometres apart
3MkhayaA guided rhino reserve: nothing here is self-drive
4KaMsholoThe stop at the Lavumisa border crossing, on the southern edge
5Where to stayReilly’s Rock, Sondzela and the Chubeka horse trails

Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary

The trust’s pioneer conservation area sits in the Ezulwini Valley between Mbabane and Manzini. Everything leaves from the Activities Centre at reception, and the Hippo Haunt Restaurant and the pool with its summerhouses are there for the hours between.

Proclaimed: 1961, on about 4,560 hectares
On foot, by bike, on horseback: walking, mountain biking and horse trails
Meetings: conference facilities are listed at the rest camp

Guests and guides walking through grassland on a guided walk at Big Game Parks

Hlane Royal National Park

The largest herds of game in the kingdom roam 22,000 hectares of lowveld. Activities leave from Ndlovu Camp, the heart of the big game area, and the lion live in a separate area reached only on guided drives.

Proclaimed: 1967
Two camps: Ndlovu Camp and Bhubesi Camp, 16 kilometres apart; Bhubesi is a quiet self-catering camp outside the endangered species area
Gates: close at 6 pm, and visitors must be in camp by sunset

Mkhaya Game Reserve

Here every journey is guided, by open Land Rover or on foot, among black and white rhino. Nothing is self-drive, and that is the point: the reserve is about close, quiet encounters.

How you move: open Land Rover or on foot, always with a guide
Stone Camp: semi-open units with no doors or windows, and no electricity or internet
Children: none under 10 at Stone Camp

KaMsholo Bushveld Safaris

The newest of the trust’s places is the friendly stop for anyone crossing the Lavumisa border, and beyond the restaurant it is a nature-rich 700-hectare reserve. The main complex has conferencing facilities for groups of various sizes.

Restaurant: a roadside restaurant and takeaways for travellers, open to day visitors
Stay: Tinsele Rest Camp, 2 kilometres from the restaurant at the foot of the Lebombo Mountains, and Bushveld Backpackers with beehive huts
Activities: guided game walks, game drives, pony rides and horse riding

A room with a stone fireplace, from the Reilly's Rock pictures

Where to stay, and how to ride

Reilly’s Rock Hilltop Lodge is the original home of Mickey Reilly, now a six-room lodge near the top of Mlilwane Hill, with breakfast on the veranda and campfire dinners. Chubeka Trails runs the horse rides across the sanctuary.

Reilly’s Rock: six en-suite rooms, each with its own character; Down Gran’s self-catering cottage nearby sleeps up to seven
Sondzela Backpackers: two houses with dorms and private rooms, 12 rondavels and camping, 2 kilometres south of the rest camp
Chubeka Trails: hourly rides on the southern plains, and overnight trails into the mountains

Pictures are the trust’s own.

How it began, decade by decade.

From one man’s farm in the 1960s to the national parks of today. Slide sideways; every line is the trust’s own account.

Before 1960
From hunting ground to empty land
The eastern lowveld was a rich hunting ground that fed the mines of Johannesburg. Laws to protect wildlife came between 1914 and 1953, but under colonial rule the land was tamed and the wildlife paid the price.
1960s
A conservation ethic begins
At 21, Ted Reilly asked the British government for a national park system and was refused. He went to King Sobhuza II, who backed him. Reilly turned his own farm into Mlilwane, the pioneer park, and Hlane followed. Eswatini regained its independence in 1968.
1970s
Land and schools
Ted and Liz Reilly’s survey of areas worth protecting led to the kingdom’s national trust body. Four conservation areas were set up, and the national environmental education programme began at Mlilwane. The Nguni cattle project saved the breed.
1980s
Rebuilding the herds
More land came under conservation and animals were reintroduced. From 1988 commercial rhino poaching cut the national numbers by 70 to 80 per cent in four years.
1990s
The rhino war ends
The Game Act was amended and moved to the King’s Office, and with strong enforcement it ended the rhino war. The name Big Game Parks was adopted for marketing.
2000s
Standards and partners
Tourism standards brought the trust in line with the region, and new endangered-species projects grew into work with zoos abroad.
2010s
Fifty years
In 2014 the trust marked its 50th anniversary and began media and school awareness programmes. It hosts more than 13,000 school children in a year.

History as the trust tells it on its conservation page, read on 7 November 2026.

A view over hills and farmland from a rocky outcrop in Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary

A Beautiful but Impossible Dream.

The trust’s own film, shown beside its history on its home page.

It plays on YouTube, in a new tab. Nothing is loaded from YouTube until you choose it; the picture is our own copy of a view over Mlilwane.

A boardroom with a bush walk attached.

Three of the trust’s places list conference facilities: Mlilwane, Mkhaya and KaMsholo. KaMsholo’s page says its main complex caters for conferences of various sizes.

Conference facilities at the Mlilwane rest camp, with a restaurant, a pool and guided activities on the same grounds
A programme the trust runs itself: guided walks, game drives, horse rides and mountain bike trails
Day visits at some parks and overnight stays at others, so a group can split its days
The trust does not publish room sizes or layouts on the pages we read. We ask for them and confirm them in writing

Facts are from the trust’s own website, read on 5 and 7 November 2026. Pictures are the trust’s own.

Ask about Big Game Parks.

To start an enquiry, tell us:

The dates you have in mind, or a window
How many people, and whether they stay overnight
Which parks, and whether you want walks, drives, rides or a meeting room

Start an enquiry

An enquiry is not a booking. We reply from the enquiries address within one working day.

Questions about Big Game Parks.

Where are the parks?

All in Eswatini: Hlane in the lowveld, Mlilwane in the Ezulwini Valley, Mkhaya in the south-east and KaMsholo at the Lavumisa border post.

The trust’s park pages (Hlane, Mlilwane, Mkhaya, KaMsholo), biggameparks.org/properties, read 5 Nov 2026

Can guests drive themselves?

In parts. Hlane has self-drive areas but its lion area is guided only, all travel in Mkhaya is guided, and KaMsholo guests may self-drive within the park.

The trust’s Hlane, Mkhaya and KaMsholo pages, biggameparks.org/properties, read 5 Nov 2026

What is there to do?

Depending on the park: guided game drives and walks, birding, cultural tours, horse rides, hiking and mountain biking.

The trust’s Hlane, Mlilwane and KaMsholo pages, biggameparks.org/properties, read 5 Nov 2026

Who runs Big Game Parks?

A private not-for-profit trust. It says it is self-sustaining without government subsidy and runs the Game Act through the King’s Office.

The trust’s home page and about page, biggameparks.org, read 5 Nov 2026 (the trust’s own description)

What kind of organisation is Big Game Parks?

The website describes Big Game Parks as a private not-for-profit Trust that protects habitat, offers tourism and promotes conservation of national heritage.

The brand’s home page, biggameparks.org, read 7 Nov 2026

How large is Hlane Royal National Park?

The Hlane page gives the park as 22,000 ha, and says it still has the largest herds of game in the Kingdom.

The page names lion, elephant, vultures and marabou stork as its speciality species.