Although Laurence Saad’s dream began much earlier, Ezulwini Game Lodges, within the Olifants West Nature Reserve, was established in 1984.

Born in 1955, in a small town outside Johannesburg, Laurence spent his growing-up years with parents Alick & Margaret, and older brother Billy.  The family would travel into the Kruger National Park on their annual family trips to spot iconic African wildlife.  The boys looked forward to these yearly trips.  They enjoyed them so much that they created a play-pretend routine to keep the safari going year-round.  Cindy, the family cat, played the lion, a hand-me-down tricycle replaced the Land Rover, and clippings from the neighbors’ hedges served as characteristic Kruger foliage.

Laurence and wife Tess carried on the tradition and continued to holiday in the Kruger Park.  They had a common dream of one day owning their piece of it.  The Saad’s eventually bought their parcel of land in the rural Lowveld region.  Unfortunately, this parcel, like many others, had been utilized for hunting in previous years.  Most of the landholdings were fenced off and overgrazed.  The wildlife which once freely roamed the area was inevitably blocked in.  The Saad family, however, had a different vision for stewardship of their new land.

His dream within reach, Laurence convened the first “reserve” meeting at the old Billy’s Lodge braai area. He named the reserve after the indigenous name of the river (Balule) that flows through Olifants West and chose the “buffalo” as its logo (his favorite animal as well as the impetus for him to start the reserve). Joining forces with other conservation-minded landowners in the area, they established the Balule Nature Reserve.  In addition, they removed fences, implemented sustainable land management strategies, and re-established migration routes. Over time, the Olifants West Nature Reserve’s rich biodiversity was restored and its diverse wildlife returned to the area.  Noting its thriving environment, South African authorities formally incorporated the reserve into the Greater Kruger National Park in 2005.

More recently, the OWNR became an independent private nature reserve, ceding ties with the Balule, in order to maintain its aims & philosophies.  Ezulwini Game Lodges now sits on 7,500 hectares (or approx. 18,533 acres) of diverse, unhindered land, which not only boasts the Big 7 but has one of the highest densities of wildlife in the region.  Ezulwini was aptly named the Zulu word for ‘Place of Paradise.’

As a family-owned business, this played an important part in the Saad legacy and as such, Billy’s Lodge, originally the main camp, was renamed after Billy’s passing in 1998.  Thereafter, River Lodge was purchased in 2002 in the hopes of expanding the Ezulwini ethos to preserve and protect the environment & its natural resources. Equally important, Laurence & Tess’s daughter Lauren, along with her husband Giles, now oversees the day-to-day operation of both lodges.  Not only are they dedicated to the success of the lodges, but they are passionate about conservation & sustainability. Lauren & Giles also love sharing their wealth of knowledge of the bush with their own daughter Bella.  Perhaps one day she too will take over the reigns, and hopefully follow in her family’s footsteps.

“I find religion in the miracle of nature: raindrops falling on a pool of water, the way branches bow and leaves hang, the delicate curve of a blade of grass, the gracefulness of a bird in flight.  Look all around you and see religion in the trees and flowers, in the combination of colors, in the birth of animals and blossoms in the Spring, all fashioned by our Creator, the Great Architect.  I worship daily in this church of nature, where I find God everywhere I look.” – Billy Saad