History of William Lloyd

In 1920, Colonel Stevenson-Hamilton appointed W. W. Lloyd as Ranger in the North of the Kruger National Park at the beautiful campsite we know today as Satara.

The life of a Ranger was hard back in the days and accessing the area could only be done on horseback, ox-wagon, or by foot as the area was very remote and there were no roads.
William Lloyd took his young wife and three children with him to Satara, where they lived in this remote area in complete isolation for several years.

W. W. Lloyd was pretty new to the Lowveld at this time and loved his new life. He lived his life with so much passion and energy that he sometimes forgot he was 56 years old and not a young 26 year old with plenty of strength and endurance.

Lloyd was a good horseman and had a trusty steed at that time. Together William and his horse covered vast distances in only a couple of days, at times, sleeping outside in the bush without shelter or warmth or even in his wet clothing during times of rain and thunderstorms. He was known for wearing pants made from the hide of a lion and wearing a thin T-shirt and a hat.

His reckless disrespect for the Lowveld’s tropical climate soon took its toll on William Lloyd and he soon fell ill with pneumonia.

William Lloyd’s wife, whose name is still unknown until today was a formidable and brave woman to live in such isolated and primitive conditions in an area where wildlife and dangerous animals roamed free. Lloyd’s wife tried her best to nurse William back to health with no help and little resources, not to mention lack of or no medication.
When her efforts failed, she sent a black messenger on foot to deliver a hand-written note to James Stevenson-Hamilton. The poor messenger had to run 90km in 24 hours through rough terrain that was riddled with leopards and lions. Finally, at 3am, James Stevenson-Hamilton was woken by a tired messenger, clutching a small hand-written note in his fist, written by the brave wife of William Lloyd. The note stated that Lloyd had died the previous night due to pneumonia and that she together with her three young kids was completely alone and isolated in Satara.
James Stevenson-Hamilton left his headquarters at Sabi-bridge at the break of dawn and set off on horseback to Satara.

After his arrival at Satara, he soon realized that Lloyd’s wife, together with a black policeman had managed to bury the deceased William Lloyd under a big old tree near their homestead.
All throughout William Lloyd’s sickbed and being completely at the mercy of the wilderness as well as being in isolation, the brave Lloyd’s wife kept calm and tried her best to help the sick Lloyd. Even after his death and being alone with her three children, she remained positive for the sake of them.

Two days later, a wagon was sent to come and collect her, as well as her three children, livestock and personal belongings, where they finally headed off to Sabi-bridge.

It soon became clear that the apple had not fallen far from the tree! Soon, the three young children also portrayed the same reckless behavior to the weather conditions as their diseased father did.

To this day it is unclear what had happened to the three children and Lloyd’s wife.

William Lloyd’s grave site

Ranger William Lloyd’s grave can be found at Satara Rest Camp next to the road near the area-ranger’s house

YES! We offer affordable Kruger National Park safaris

Our rates include the following:

Transfers from a pre-arranged pick-up location to Kruger National Park and back (this can be at your accommodation where you are staying, depending on the location). This includes Nelspruit | Kruger National Park | KMI Airport | Skukuza Airport | White River | Hazyview | Malelane | Komatipoort and Marloth Park
Full Day safari with a luxury open safari vehicle
An accredited & professional Field Guide doubling as the driver of the vehicle on the day of safari
A snack box per person consisting of various treats to munch on during the day of the safari
Assistance with Kruger National Park entrance/conservation fee payments, paperwork and permits
The use of high-quality, waterproof ponchos on-board the vehicle when needed

Please note:

Please contact us if your accommodation falls outside of our area of operation.

We also conduct safari tours in the North of Kruger upon request and need. You also have the option to hire the safari vehicle privately, email us to find out more. Additionally, you have the option to add your Kruger entrance/conservation fees when you make your booking so you don’t have to go to the office on the morning of the safari to make payment for entrance fees.

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REVIEWS

Fantastic experience

We really enjoyed our safari with Liz and the web photographer. They pointed out many sightings which we would never have seen on our own. We saw 3 leopards, many elephants, rhinos, cape buffaloes, giraffes, zebras, hippos and different types of antelopes and birds.
They provided binoculars which helped a lot, especially when observing the leopards in the reed!
The service is top: on time, friendly, very informative and you get a feeling how much they enjoy “going the extra mile” for the customer. They tried to keep ahead of the crowd and do not enter thru Numbi gate which is usually very crowded. Its great the park fee is included in the price because then you do not need to queue at the entrance like in the case of some of the other operators. We will definitely recommend you!

dorischristina2015, TripAdvisor

Emocional experience

When we thought about that trip, my wife, my stepson, our friend and I ,had never imagined how amazing could be , and how deep can touch us. From the first moment when we founded Lizelle, our guide at the Malelane door, the magic begins to happen.She was so unreal in some way, that my wife said ( in Portuguese,) she seems to be a caracter from a movie!, We had very good luck , and in just 2 full days, 20 hours total, we could see the real big five, including black rhino and leopard, and many many other species, of course. Lizelle was so nice, so professional and so dedicated that we are recommended to our friends around the World to do the same program.. .. we will repeat it for sure. There is not words, not video or pictures, that can transmit this experience, .. believe me, after you live it you will understand it .

FellowTraveler507918, TripAdvisor

Great services! Amazing commments

The guide was very friendly and helpful!
She really knew the way around the park and we were able to see a big variety of animals

344hama, TripAdvisor

Super accommodating and informative.

Liz was super patient in making sure we get the morning bush walk and night drive within limited dates. They know lots about every animal we saw. I love that they provide parkas for their guests because it gets super chilly as the truck moves. Their truck is clean and not loud like other trucks which tend to scare the animals away.

Zzame Em, Google Review

Leading Safari Company

Lion Roar Safaris offers safaris in Kruger Park. In an excellent car and with professional equipment we discovered in a small groupe the big 5. The guide was an expert and is very customer oriented.

DutchAdventurer, TripAdvisor

Spectacular day in the Mighty Kruger!

Even if the weather was cold during the day, the spectacular sightings we had made up for it all. Luckily this company is not one of those that rush from one big sighting to another but rather take it at a slower pace and therefore not miss even the small things like some bird species and trees and plants, lizards and much more.
Oh and I am so glad their Photographer was also on board with her very sharp eye sight. She spotted plenty of animals where the rest of us missed them…especially that Cheetah! And she took the most beautiful pictures (and some short videos clips) of all our sightings that day. We were surely one lucky group of people seeing all those magnificent wildlife, especially the Elephant Calves, Wild Dogs as well as Hyena Pups!
Oh and let’s not forget the snack bags that was packed for us!!
The Guide was very informative and interactive with our group. Evidently her kindness and helpfulness is not only restricted to the time a guest is on her vehicle still busy on the Tour but even helping when one of our group members was staying over at a place in the Kruger Park, she assisted him from booking in at the camp to taking him to where he would be staying, to briefly showing him around on what is where and available to him in the camp. And this all took merely a few minutes.
I would definitely be recommending Lion Roar Safaris.

Grifinne, TripAdvisor

Best experience ever!

Lizelle was very informative and made sure we had the best views of all the animals!

Johan , Google Review

Amazing experience

Staff is professional and on time.
We saw a lot of animals like lions cheetah hyenas rhinos elephants hyppos and many others.
Really an amazing day!! Thank you!

valeva2019, TripAdvisor

Some of the services Lion Roar Safaris Offer…

Upmarket Luxury Safaris I Tailored Safaris I Professional Personal Holiday Photographer I Hire a Professional Field Guide I Hire a Private Safari Vehicle I Accommodation in and around Kruger I Photographic Safaris I Safari catering – picnic lunches, dinners and BBQ’s and more…

History of William Lloyd