The Karoo is an area of great biodiversity. The Swartberg Mountain Range rises like a rugged wall between the Little Karoo in the south-west and the Great Karoo in the north-east. Magic Hills is located in the latter. A leisurely 3-hour scenic drive from Port Elizabeth International Airport, or a 30-minute Cessna flight directly to the reserve’s private landing strip, will get you to this incomparable location.
This semi-desert region is famed for its harsh, yet beautiful, conditions – arid land alive with the most persistent of vegetation, vast cloudless skies, expansive vistas as far as the eye can see, and exceptional bird- and wildlife.
While Magic Hills is home to the Big Five, the rarer creatures attract our more discerning guests. We have an abundance of birdlife, with over 400 different species known in the area, including the endangered Verreaux eagle. There are also 10 endemic bird species that occur in the Karoo and nowhere else in the world, like the Karoo Korhaan, Sclater’s Lark, Cinnamon-breasted Warbler and Karoo Eremomela, whose distinct calls and vivid displays are guaranteed to entice keen twitchers to reach for the binoculars.
There are also over 45 unusual species roaming the land. Brave travelers who wish to explore the grasslands by night may be fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of elusive animals like the aardvark, caracal, porcupine, black-back jackal and bat-eared fox. Magic Hills is also home to the largest black rhino bull in the world, one of the most critically endangered species, globally.
And then, there’s the flora. Contributing to the cleaner-than-clean air is the incredible Spekboom. One of many medicinal plants on the land, Spekboom is a succulent that literally acts as a sponge for carbon dioxide, able to absorb four to ten tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere per hectare – ten times more effective than the Amazon rainforest.
The history of the Great Karoo is infinite. It’s hard to comprehend that this desert-like expanse of nature was once an inland sea. But history has it that approximately 250 million years ago, that was the reality. Gradually, as the global climate changed shape, the water evaporated, turning this vast sea into a thick swamp where amphibians and reptiles thrived.
The area was also previously home to many different civilisations – from the last of the Stone Age population, to the bushmen and the nomadic Khoi people, and Jan Smuts and his allies, who sought refuge on these lands during the Second Anglo-Boer War. In fact, the legendary house where Jan Smuts took shelter can be found on the Magic Hills Game Reserve, and is currently undergoing restoration. Jansenville, the closest town to the reserve, originated in 1854 when the Dutch Reformed Church formed a parish in the area. The quaint town takes its name from the last Dutch Governor of the Cape.
Things to Do at Magic Hills
As rich and vibrant as our surrounding communities are, guests of Magic Hills Private Collection don’t have to venture far to experience the best that the Great Karoo has to offer. There are plenty of things to do in the Eastern Cape, that can be done right here on our expansive reserve:
- Game Drives – amble over the rugged landscape, in search of the Big Five, a variety of other wild game and birdlife, and the many fascinating species of insects and butterflies that flit across the wilderness.
- Game Hikes – put your boots on, and take a guided tour on foot through the reserve, exploring rock formations and gorges, stopping to inspect nature’s wonders along the way. Paired with a packed picnic lunch, it’s the perfect excursion to go looking for wild rhino or cheetah families.
- Rock Art Breakfast – We’ve discovered six confirmed rock art sites around the Magic Hills Private Game Reserve, in unique, magnificent locations. Allow us to share these with you, followed by a fresh, decadent bush breakfast.
- 4×4 Trails – Unleash your inner adventurer! Bring your 4×4 vehicle and try your hand at traversing the rocky trails that weave through our piece of rugged nature.
- Spa Treatments – Revitalize your body and mind with our fresh air, Vitamin-D boosting sunshine… and our spa treatments.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a global partnership. They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.
Extensive veld rehabilitation is already in progress, with 2020 being the year wherein active reintroduction of Karoo grasses and native succulents to the most degraded areas will be a priority project. While the full extent of land under the management of Magic Hills is not currently accessible to all the wildlife inhabiting our reserve, over time and once rehabilitation has been completed to a satisfactory level, more and more fences will be dropped to expand the great reserve. Further land acquisitions are under way, with plans to expand the reserve to a vast 42 000 hectares, which both visitors and wildlife will be given the freedom to roam.