Dick Heysteck Game Farm in Lydenburg & vicinity, Mpumalanga

Game Farm with a Difference

The Dick Heysteck Game Farm is situated 10 km outside Lydenburg in the Mpumalanga Province, South Africa.

When you travel along the R36, from Lydenburg to Ohrigstad, be sure to keep a lookout for wild animals grazing together in apparent harmony in the grassland alongside the road. These are not animals like you see in the Kruger National Park, but are in fact large life size sculptures made from concrete, steel and chicken wire. Here visitors have a guaranteed sighting of the Big 5.

The wild animal sculptures were created by Dick Heysteck in the early 1980’s. Each piece took him about 2 months to complete and after a few years he had a whole herd of animals and a few human statues too. On display you will find the Big 5 as well as at least 25 other animal species and human shapes all forming part of the Dick Heysteck Farm’s artistic structures. A few of the sculptures were taken to the Lydenburg Museum after he passed away. Visitors can contact the Museum for more information and insight about this attraction, but some of the sculptures can be seen from the roadside.

Things to do and see

• Big 5 animal sculptures
• Other game and human art & sculptures

Admission

Please contact the Game Farm direct for confirmation on possible admission fees.

Climate

Rainfall occurs mainly in the mid-summer months, with December and January seeing the highest levels. 

Summer months, November to March will have average temperatures of between 14˚C and 25˚C.

Winter months, May to August will have average temperatures of between 3˚C and 19˚C.

Transport

There are daily flights from Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town into the Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport in Mombela (Nelspruit). Car rental companies are available for easy access to the surrounding areas with Lydenburg being just over an hour away along the R37. Road trips from Johannesburg to Lydenburg on the N4 and R540 will take just over 3 hours.