Hlane Royal National Park

About this place

Hlane Royal National Park is Eswatini's largest protected area, about 67 km north-east of Manzini on the main MR3 road. With its surrounding areas it covers some 300 square kilometres of Swazi bushveld. It is the best place in the country to see big game, including white rhino, elephants and lions. Before it opened to the public it was a private royal hunting ground, and King Sobhuza II named it Hlane, meaning «wilderness». It is now held in trust for the nation under King Mswati III and run by a private body. Cheetahs have been reintroduced after a long absence, and it has Africa's highest density of nesting white-backed vultures. You see flat land covered in ancient hardwood trees, grassland and shallow pans. At the main waterhole white rhinos wallow in the mud, elephants come to drink and zebra and wildebeest gather. The camp has a wooden hide over the waterhole for quiet wildlife watching. It is about 9 km from Simunye in a straight line. Lions live in a fenced section reached only on guided drives. The best time for wildlife at the waterholes is the dry winter, June to September.