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Welcome to Bucklands Private Game Reserve …
Bucklands Private Game Reserve is a Stewart Family conservation initiative which was launched in 2007 culminating from the families deep love of the African continent's splendid diversity and natural beauty found within its wildlife and nature reserves. Terry and Michele's outdoor lifestyles and regular family visits to numerous reserves led to their children flourishing within these wildlife surrounds and saw their eldest son Iain later actively pursuing a career in conservation. The families love of the outdoors and wildlife areas being the catalyst in their decision to purchase Bucklands Private Game Reserve and their now active involvement to protect and conserve this special South African wildlife area.
Bucklands Private Game Reserve consists of five thousand five hundred hectares, and includes the properties known as Bucklands, Lower Bucklands and Schrikwaters Poort. The Bucklands Private Game Reserve is situated adjacent to The Great Fish River Nature Reserve (comprised of the Andries Vosloo Kudu Reserve, the Double Drift Nature Reserve and the Sam Knott Nature Reserve, totalling approximately 45,000 hectares in extent) and the Great Fish River bordering Bucklands Private Game Reserve. The climate is hot in summer and mild in winter, the hilly topography and dense thickets, interspersed with mosaics of grass, bush and abundant wildlife is very diverse with stunning nature scenes from the many vantage points whilst encompassing both Closed and Open Great Fish Thicket, Grassy Bontveld, Karroid Scrub, Disturbed Savanna and Riverine Thicket's which support the tremendously rich array of plant and animal life, many endemic to the area.
Accommodation at Bucklands Private Game Reserve incorporates two private establishments, being Bucklands Luxury Tented Camp and Bucklands Lodge; both establishments offers accommodation to a maximum of 8 guests, with a variety of activities and experiences available both within Bucklands Private Game Reserve and in the surrounding area. Bucklands Luxury Tented Camp opened in August 2009 offering a Fully Inclusive accommodation option, and Bucklands Lodge opened its doors in April 2010 which also offers a Fully Inclusive accommodation option... Bucklands is truly the Game Reserve for all seasons in the Eastern Cape, providing accommodation and activities for all.
Activities at Bucklands Private Game Reserve include game drives on Bucklands Private Game Reserve (as well as on the 45000 ha neighbouring Great Fish River Reserve); guided walks focussing on the unique subtropical thicket biome, bushman paintings, historical sites, clifftop walks; specialist guided walks focussing on specific fauna and flora in detail; fishing in the Great Fish River; night drives and star gazing; quad bike trails; birding and visit to Grahamstown, Double Drift, and even a private picnic on the beach near Port Alfred can be arranged… a complete holiday package in one of Southern Africa's most beautiful destinations, catering for the whole family.
Bucklands Private Game Reserve is situated about 35 km from Grahamstown and is accessed via an arterial road which runs through portions of the Great Fish River Nature Reserve i.e. Andries Vosloo Kudu Reserve (proclaimed by the Cape Provincial Administration in 1975) near Fort Brown in the Albany District. The area is generally semi-arid with an annual rainfall of about 400mm which peaks in October (spring) and March (autumn) with relatively dry winters, water supply to the area is provided mostly from the Great Fish River; historically the river would dry up in times of drought, but today the Great Fish River runs permanently as a result of the Orange River water that is channelled in through a tunnel scheme built in the Karoo.
Bucklands Private Game Reserve lies in the heart of what is known as the Frontier Country and which forms part of a number of tourism routes within the Eastern Cape, rich in both natural diversity and historic feature, as one of the original frontier zones in South African history it was the meeting place of five great cultures in the 18th and 19th centuries with no other part of South Africa being the meeting place of such different cultures for as long as the Eastern Cape has, thereby ensuring an exciting and exhilarating experience for all visitors to the area.
Through the Stewart Family's ownership of Bucklands Private Game Reserve a part of this beautiful and diverse area in the Eastern Cape will be conserved and protected, its wide spectrum of vegetation, spectacular scenery and natural diversity intact for future generations.
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