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Arjuna & Nehra Nadaraja
AU
Visited:
August 2019
Reviewed: Feb 16, 2020
Email Arjuna & Nehra Nadaraja | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Top quality and intimate wildlife viewing - luxury done well without going over the top
Wildlife viewing at Mala Mala is as intimate as it could ever get. The accommodation was beyond expectations - it was luxurious but without pretence. The quality of food was top draw, but served with a delicate simplicity. The gentle professionalism of the camp staff was welcome and the passion, knowledge and professionalism of our wonderful Ranger, Nic Nel, capped it all off.
With Nick’s invaluable expertise the wildlife viewing over the four days provided us a truly unforgettable experience that included:
― daily leopard sightings, including the Nkoveni female making a kill and the Island
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bend female and cub sharing a kill;― several prides of lion, including the four inquisitive three-month old cubs of the Kambula pride as well as the rare sighting of two females in a tree fighting over a leopard-kill of an Impala;
― daily sightings of white rhino, including young;
― numerous elephants, including an incredible half an hour in the middle of a 20+ herd and the unforgettable antics of the young ones showing off;
― spending time at a spotted hyena den with curious and ungainly pups playing around, but being totally alert scampering into the den at the slightest sound or shadows cast by birds flying overhead;
― buffalo, kudu, a honey-badger, ostrich, hippo, owls, eagles, voyages of giraffe, baboons, saddle-bill storks with young, the unusual hamerkop heron, kingfishers and much more.
We cannot see how the wonderful Mala Mala experience can be bettered. The one negative of this place - saying goodbye. What was to be our ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ safari is not so! We are already planning our next visit. Totsiens for now.
Claire Roadley
GB
Visited:
May 2018
Reviewed: Jul 4, 2018
Email Claire Roadley | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Just keeps getting better!
The game viewing again was amazing and a real highlight
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was watching two leopards mating right in front of us as well as seeing loads of different lion with our guide Lucky, who grew up in the reserve. It far exceeded all expectations and I cannot wait to go back again.
Tom Friedel
AU
Visited:
May 2017
Reviewed: Jul 26, 2017
Email Tom Friedel | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Larger resort style with excellent facilities and game viewing
We stayed in the lower Sable section of the lodge, which is separated from the main lodge and therefore quieter and with fewer people. The accommodation was excellent,more than spacious, and the meals were of a high
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standard; in fact in many aspects Mala Mala feels more like a resort than a safari lodge (with pool, gym etc).. The guide was excellent, knowledgeable and only too happy to try and accommodate individual wishes for the keen photographers. They try to keep animal disturbance to a minimum by allowing only 3 vehicles at any sighting at one time and, because the reserve is large (130 square Km), there is still a feeling of not being too crowded.In sum, Mala Mala offers great game viewing , resort style accommodation and is easily accessible from Johannesburg (as are all of the lodges in the area). We have been to many different lodges in southern Africa and for us the more intimate feeling of the smaller game lodges was missing. This is not a criticism, rather a personal preference.
A dream come true
The accommodation was
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very comfortable and clean, with the animals able to wander round as they please you felt at one with them. The food was excellent and the service was second to none with the cheerful and happy ladies. To sum up, if you want a holiday of a lifetime Mala Mala came up with it!
coldfish88
US
Visited:
August 2016
Reviewed: Sep 16, 2016
Email coldfish88 | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An Exceptional Experience
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not only knew where to look, he was very knowledgeable about all the animals we saw (including numerous birds), but was also good at explaining their behavior, or, more to the point, the reason for their behavior. One other ranger-positive remark: the game drives take place very early and late in the day and with the sun low in the sky, back lighting and shadows make for tough photographs. These guys were particularly adept, when possible, at maneuvering the truck around to get a good, close, well lit shot. Now, they can't drive over logs or cross rivers to do this, but if they could achieve a good position, they would. Our rooms were spacious and well cared for. They have complimentary laundry service, a very important feature when you can only carry 20 kilos of luggage for an 11 day trip. The food was tasty and well prepared. Meals were buffets which was helpful in controlling quantities. Final point: work with your travel agent in getting to the camp. Mala Mala has a airstrip 15 minutes from the main lodge. Make sure you can access the camp via this airstrip as opposed to the two hour drive from Nelspruit that we experienced!
zapiture
ZA
Visited:
July 2016
Reviewed: Aug 7, 2016
Email zapiture | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Bubba_NZ
NZ
Visited:
July 2016
Reviewed: Jul 31, 2016
Email Bubba_NZ | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Outstanding safari destination
Mala Mala borders the Kruger National Park. Southern Africa's in the grip of a drought, but Mala Mala's fortunate to have a (much-reduced) river running through it North to South. This and the winter-thinned bush make for a safari bonanza. Thanks to our outstanding guide Tim we saw a veritable A-Z of African wildlife, from top predators through to some of the rarest animals on the planet. Because Mala Mala's private you're not sitting in a queue with tens of other vehicles, and the guides can get their vehicles well off the track. It feels unbelievably privileged. Highlights were wild mating leopards, a female leopard in a cub with her den, running with a nighttime pack of hyena, herds of elephants (and much more). We were in a family double room which worked brilliantly. And I'm always amazed how places like this serve up exceptional food and drinks, which is a bonus. But we came for the safari, really, and it's made for a lifetime set of memories.
Massai_1 (Carsten M.)
Visited:
December 2014
Reviewed: May 25, 2015
Great game viewing (the didn't even had to use a tracker), great accomodation.
TheWanderingAmerican
US
Visited:
May 2014
Reviewed: May 2, 2015
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Safari with Style
Another great thing about Mala Mala is that it shares an unfenced border with Kruger, so animals are free to roam between Mala Mala and Kruger. But what makes Mala Mala even better is that Kruger has restrictions on off-road driving, meaning that you can't track animals off of the main roads; but Mala Mala is a private reserve and does
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not have these restrictions. The guides are able to wander into the bush and get guests close to animals, while being very respectful of the animals themselves to make sure that both parties are comfortable.
Rob & Sue Brookes
Visited:
August 2014
Reviewed: Apr 22, 2015
Mala Mala, Superb accommodation, superb wildlife sightings
It's always difficult to know just how lucky with wildlife sighting you've been on a trip when compared to those who've come before you but on this occasion we must have been very lucky indeed! As a location for leopards Mala Mala is unrivalled in our experience and we've visited a large part of Africa over the years. The accommodation was excellent as was the food and general service. As very keen wildlife photographers we are always reliant on the expertise of the local rangers, we never have enough time anywhere we go and need the rangers to get us to the optimum locations for photography. They know their area whereas we don't and in this respect they are an invaluable source of the local information every photographer needs. Mala Mala has some of the best rangers we have come across and hopefully our photographs did them justice. We would have no hesitation in recommending Mala Mala as a safari destination not just for leopards but for game photography in general including significant numbers of birds.