Hlane Royal National Park, Protected wildlife area in northeastern Eswatini.
Hlane Royal National Park is a protected wildlife reserve in northeastern Eswatini spanning flat lowland areas with ancient hardwood forests, grasslands, and shallow water pans. The landscape covers roughly 300 square kilometers and supports diverse habitats for the region's animal populations.
Hlane was originally a private royal hunting ground of Eswatini's kings. In the 1960s the MR3 highway was built through it under pressure from sugar estates, splitting the reserve and causing many animals to be struck by vehicles. It is now managed by Big Game Parks and held in trust for the nation by King Mswati III.
King Sobhuza II gave the park its name, Hlane, a siSwati word meaning wilderness. The land is held in trust for the nation by King Mswati III and run by Big Game Parks, a private body, rather than by a state agency. Visitors pass through the same MR3 entrance that leads to Ndlovu Camp.
Visitors can stay in thatched huts at Hlane Camp near the entrance or at Bhubesi Camp in the northern section of the park. Both accommodations allow you to remain close to wildlife and explore different parts of the reserve at your own pace.
The park's birdlife includes the highest density of nesting white-backed vultures in Africa, and it holds the southernmost nesting site of the marabou stork. Raptors also include martial eagles, bateleurs and long-crested eagles, plus white-headed and lappet-faced vultures and the occasional Cape vulture.
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