These antics got him journaled as being “utterly ignorant of everything belonging to the civilised world.” Together with Selous and other hunters, the best guess is that they killed over 5000 elephants during the mid 1800’s and almost wiped out the population. Selous called this ivory-hunting country "one of the dreariest wildernesses in the world." Only a few short years earlier, it was the "most fearfully thick" bush and had been a "grand place for elephants."
This is the story of Cornelius van Rooyen, Great Grandfather to owner Cedric Wilde, father to Linda and Sharon whom, 4 generations later, together with their husbands, have changed the face of this region to realign conservation to a more robust modern model. Where these hunters and explorers roamed over 150 years ago, in today's Dete Vlei, Sable Valley Lodge’s guests spend hours in our underground hide and treetop platform watching the massive herds of elephants frequent this area once again.
