Thornhill Safari Lodge is located in Geurnsey Private Reserve. Which from part of the Greater Kruger National Area.
It all began with a mere 44 hectares on the farm Guernsey 81KU. The owners of Pezulu Treehouse Lodge, Gill and West Mathewson had a vision to create what we call today “The Bigger Picture”. They approached neighbours on surrounding farms and initiated the idea of dropping boundary fences, not only for the sake of the game, but for the environmental biosphere/eco system as a whole. However this was not an easy process and took a great deal of negotiating and the building of relationships built on trust.
From 1996 onwards the inclusion of land owned by John Swinney, Brian Christiane, Danie van Wyk, Dr.Johann Oosthuyse, Frikkie Kotze and John Craven took place over a few years thus forming an area of just over 176 hectares. This area was managed as an informal Conservancy until 2001 when founding Members Piet Els and the above land owners formed the official Guernsey Conservancy.
From 2001 land within the conservancy was bought and sold and new land owners were introduced into the area. The owners of The Bundu Safari Company, Sean and Merle Ryan bought land from John Swinney and in 2002 established the Bundu Safari Lodge. It was with much excitement that they joined the Conservancy with the “Bigger Picture” in mind and made it their goal to work in conjunction with their neighbours to make the realisation of the “Bigger Picture” happen.
At a committee meeting at the end of 2002 it was decided by Sean Ryan that the Conservancy needed a more formal approach to their conservation and environmental planning issues and with the aid of ENDIP environmental and ecological consulting, a full scale ecological survey was undertaken. This survey became instrumental in the present and future management of the reserve and has aided all members to together formulate a management objective for the Conservancy.
Thus with the aid of like-minded thinkers, the Guernsey Conservancy was able to break new ground and move ahead towards our goals. By the end of 2003 the Conservancy still stood at 176 hectares and negotiations were on the go to include other neighbours. As mentioned before, it was a long and tedious process, but a process that would definitely be worthwhile. By 2004 the Conservancy stood at 198 hectares.
The Conservancy now stands at 220 hectares and negotiation is under way for even more fences to drop. The Guernsey Conservancy would like to set an example for the rest of the community that through determination and like-minded people, anything can be achieved.
