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• History of Welgevonden

African Wilderness Reborn

During the 1980s, the original Welgevonden farm was owned by a man named Pienkes Du Plessis. He had a dream of restoring the land to its natural glory. He aimed to remove any trace of human encroachment on the land and reintroduce the wildlife that once roamed freely over the plains. In 1987, with the help of South Africa’s private sector, a conservation initiative was started with a plan to consolidate a number of farms in the Waterberg region (including Welgevonden) to create what they called the “African wilderness reborn”.
Private fences were knocked down, land restored, game relocated and ecological management efforts carefully undertaken. The initiative became the first in South Africa to translocate entire breeding herds of elephant. When all the farms were consolidated they took on the name of the original farm, Welgevonden. In 1993 the initial project was finally complete, after which Welgevonden went on to grow to achieve the luxury reserve status it enjoys today.

From Stone Age to European Occupation

The formation and restoration of the Welgevonden Private Game Reserve is but a part of the area's rich history. Human occupation dates back hundreds, maybe thousands of years. The region was home to many during the Middle Stone Age, Late Stone Age and Iron Age. There are still sites on the reserve today where you can view San rock art from those ancient times.
The first European settlers first arrived in the area in 1808. In the mid-19th century, a group of Dutch Voortrekkers arrived in the area in search of Jerusalem, mistaking it for Egypt. By the 20th century, the European population totalled only around 200 people. The farming activities of this small number of people took its toll on the land and wildlife of the region, although one would never guess the damage caused here due to the conservation and restoration efforts of more recent years.