Duard Terblanche the founder, owner & field guide of Makwela Transfrontier Safaris has been an ultimate nature enthusiast since his youth days & even as young as the age of 5 years he wanted to live, work & pursue a lifestyle existence in nature.

With his passion, persistency & determination driven he qualified as a game ranger (field guide) at the age of 16 & due to still being at school he temporarily worked at game reserves in South Africa & Botswana & helped care for & raise orphaned animals such as baby Chimpanzees, lion cubs & any other animals that needed special care at the Pretoria Zoo.

By the time he finished his school career in 1996 he gained a lot of experience & decided to make his lifelong passionate dream become a reality by tackling the Eco-tourism industry bare handed, driven by his deep passion for interpreting the vast & wonderful world of nature to visitors from across the globe with the main aim of Environmental conservation awareness.

In 1997 he furthered his studies in game ranging (field guiding) through Allenby Campus & Eco Training for his Diploma in game ranging & game reserve management whilst still working for a private game reserve & rehabilitation centre for endangered species in the Lowveld region of South Africa.

Gaining most of his experience through game drives witnessing what nature has to offer on a daily basis & helping endangered species such as Cheetahs, African Wild Dogs, Serval & orphaned white & black rhinos & an elephant!

Great opportunities presented itself & he decided to specialize in Eco-tourism exclusively!

In 2000 he joined a private game reserve within the well-known Sabi-Sand Game Reserve that borders the world renowned & famous Kruger National Park.

This special lodge crept into his heart very quickly & worked there for over 12 years.

Throughout the years, he climbed the ladder from junior game ranger, to Head Ranger.

This is also where he met his most favourite & much respected female leopard Makwela.

The most passionate aspect for Duard about Makwela was tracking her on foot following signs of where she might be on a daily basis, driven by persistency & determination he succeeded most of the tracking sessions with the help of his dedicated & professional tracker.

The urge to share Makwela with his guests was the ultimate reward & allowing them to experience this special and wonderful cat in her natural existence whether she was just on an afternoon stroll, scent marking her territory or hunting or sharing her wonderful cubs, fluffy bundles of joy with him & his guests.

Although Makwela was never tamed nor could she be touched she had a special place in his heart.

This legendary leopard will forever live on!

Throughout the years Duard also furthered his qualifications such as Fgasa Level 3, tracks, signs & tracking & back up trails guide to name a few but his new found inspired love for Astronomy gripped him like the gravity of the Universe!

He strongly believes that practical experience, nature interpretation & passion of nature & wildlife outweighs anything else!
With over 20 years of experiencing nature & wildlife at its utmost best he decided to take a huge leap of faith to make his second dream become a reality!
This dream was to start his own Safari 4×4 Expeditions Company named Makwela Transfrontier Safaris with an array of options to choose from for guests to experience nature in an entirely different way; from rustic camping to luxury camping to ultimate luxury 5 star lodging!

With his extensive bush knowledge, experience, deep passion & determination for nature & wildlife your safari experience will be unforgettable!

Makwela Transfrontier Safaris thus invites you to climb on board & join us on our remarkable unforgettable Safari Experiences in the vast untamed Africa!