“The Swiss may make the best watches, but Africa owns time,” says Pierre Delvaux, CEO of Thanda Group. Landscapes like these prove the point.Courtesy of South Africa | Forbes Global PropertiesYou know you are truly alive when you are living among lions.” So wrote Karen Blixen in her memoir Out of Africa (published under the pen name Isak Dinesen). She’d emigrated to British East Africa to marry her second cousin, a Swedish baron. When the marriage foundered, Blixen stayed to manage their failing coffee farm—because Africa and its indigenous people brought her solace. Nearly 40 years later, in 1973, Pierre Delvaux enjoyed his first South African safari at the age of four, alongside his father. They explored the same land where he lives today, in northern KwaZulu-Natal, on the 16,500 hectares (over 40,000 acres) of the Thanda Safari private game reserve. Distance has different meaning in Africa.These are the ancestral hunting grounds of Zulu kings, crimson sunsets streaking the skies, flames leaping from the firepit, ancient stories.Delvaux is now CEO of Thanda Group (pronounced Tanda, it is the Zulu word for 'love’), which acts as conservation custodian of the bushland and its animal population. On its Big Five safaris—elephant, buffalo, rhino, lion, leopard—guests are pampered in royally tented splendor and lodges. Thanda is also home to eight privately owned ultra-exclusive residences on a high-security, gated estate of 386 hectares (954 acres) where you do hear the lions’ roar tonight."You know you are truly alive when you are living among lions," wrote Karen Blixen in her 1937 memoir Out of Africa. The Royal Thanda Residences, gated within the Thanda Safari private game reserve, bring Blixen's words to life.Courtesy of South Africa | Forbes Global PropertiesAs near native to this place as it’s possible to be, Delvaux is a fluent Zulu speaker with three generations of family connection to the land. His role as protector of nature’s integrity here extends to ensuring that Thanda’s permanent private real estate assets contribute to their surroundings.Sky. Land. Water. And what man makes to appreciate them—Villa Thandawena.Courtesy of South Africa | Forbes Global PropertiesThe eight expansive Royal Thanda Residences are, first and foremost, architecturally empathic to the landscape. Each property is low-lying, unobtrusive, at a remove from its nearest neighbor, and as luxuriously appointed as any 6-star branded hotel. Privacy is understood. Each Royal Residence is owned by individuals or families of note who share the Thanda ethic of ubuntu, a community with common values. Pierre Delvaux knows them:“Like-minded people. Adventurers. People who love rejuvenating their mind in the bush. Deeply rooted in family values. People for whom legacy is important. But who also expect and enjoy the highest quality of life.”The development began in 2004—funded by Swedish entrepreneur and philanthropist Dan Olofsson and his wife Christin—and has proceeded without fanfare, without cloying social media, with sales happening discreetly through word of mouth between connected sources.Now two of the eight ultra-exclusive properties are on the market. The first is the magisterial Villa Thandawena, considered to be the estate’s flagship Royal Residence. Its 1,100-square-meter footprint (11,840 square feet) links five separately set bedroom suites, with views directly onto the bush. Vast entertaining areas, patios, platforms, the obligatory infinity pool. Stone and neutral-textured upholstery reflecting the colors of the terrain, rich timber walkways storing warmth. Craftsmanship and comfort are international-class. Rather extraordinarily, an Airbus H130 B4 helicopter is included in the sale of Thandawena, listed at US$15 million. Villa Thandawena's international-class interior design brings the materials and amenities of a 6-star hotel.Courtesy of South Africa | Forbes Global PropertiesThe second is Villa Mhlosinga, listed at US$4.6 million. Here a distinctly Zulu feel informs the design. Thatched roofs hover above the four bedroom pods, while air-conditioning purrs below. The central areas speak again of spacious relaxation, all natural colors and wood, with views stretching endlessly into the rolling hills of this domain. While Delvaux says Thanda isn’t about the real estate but the people and the landscape, the real estate is nevertheless doing a pretty good job of providing a sumptuously appointed setting. It is near impossible to imagine a place more dreamlike. These are the ancestral hunting grounds of Zulu kings, crimson sunsets streaking the skies, flames leaping from the firepit, ancient stories. For the rationalist, the inventory reads persuasively: a private Big Five safari estate in an overwhelmingly rich location, residences polished to the highest standards, properties that owners can of course let when not at home here themselves.Something that cannot be replicated in a land that cannot be replaced—Villa Mhlosinga.Courtesy of South Africa | Forbes Global PropertiesVilla Mhlosinga's Zulu-inspired design marries a natural interior palette with the gentle hues of nature beyond the windows.Courtesy of South Africa | Forbes Global PropertiesBut another story resonates somewhere between the logic and the luxury that makes Thanda compelling. It is Africa itself, South Africa in particular. It’s not just that we all once emanated from this continent but, as Pierre Delvaux likes to remind us, “Nostradamus once said that when it seems the world is coming to an end, the safest place will be the land of the elephant.” Sometimes it might be looking back that shows the way ahead.Villa Thandawena ($15 million) and Villa Mhlosinga ($4.6 million) are represented by Keegan Steyn of South Africa | Forbes Global Properties, a member of Forbes Global Properties, the invitation-only network of top-tier brokerages worldwide and the exclusive real estate partner of Forbes.