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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:
November 2014
Reviewed: May 25, 2015
Great game viewing (the didn't even had to use a tracker), great accomodation.
TheWanderingAmerican
US
Visited:
April 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.
Sue
Visited:
May 2014
Reviewed: Apr 20, 2015
I liked Mala Mala a little bit better because it was easier to find and see more animals in a game ride.
Thomas Berggren
SE
Visited:
April 2013
Reviewed: Nov 4, 2013
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A wild place
Anyway, our main goal with this trip was to get as many nice safari pictures as possible and Mala Mala delivered that too. Our ranger Peter took really good care of us and as he also was very interested in photography he had a good feeling for what we probably would like to see. We successfully spotted the big five and lots of other interesting animals such as a pangulin for instance. We went out into the bush at 6 o clock
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every morning and brought our breakfast with us out to have it the Landrover. Being in april it was kind of cold in the mornings but the car was equipped with blankets so that was no problem. We then went back to camp at around noon to have lunch and do some downloading of our pictures and after that we went back out again until the sun went down and it became too dark for photography. We really had a lot of nice moments at Mala Mala during this trip and those moments will always stay in my mind. I hope i get to go there again sometime.Superlative unbeatable wildlife viewing
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Baldwin, were seeing a leopard dragging her freshly killed impala along the ground to a tree (our first night drive!) and the next morning (our second game drive) sitting among a pack of wild dogs as they consumed their kill and fought off a hyena. We experienced the excitement of following the dogs off road and watched them run down another antelope. The rest of our game drives were also wonderful and we had many leopard sightings, elephants, cape buffalo, lion, rhino, hyenas, warthogs, giraffes, mongoose, jenet, wildebeast, baboons, vervet monkeys, zebras, vultures, raptors, different types of storks, and a wide variety of antelope. I suspect that going during the dry season enhanced our wildlife viewing as the animals were mostly concentrated around the river. It is unbelievable how close you are able to get to the animals, just don't stand up in the range rover and you will be just fine. We appreciated the care the rangers took to minimally disturb the animals while we were observing them. You will be very very busy and we barely had enough down time to download our pictures between the early morning game drives, bush walks, meals, and night drives. Others have complained about the food which is served buffet style (we liked it just fine, we did have better food at other places during our trip to South Africa, but no place could beat Mala Mala in terms of the quality of the wildlife viewing and level of service and hospitality). If you want fantastic wildlife viewing that is unbeatable, come to Mala Mala! Yes, staying at Rattrays is expensive, but worth every penny!
Douglas Croft
US
Visited:
July 2012
Reviewed: Oct 25, 2013
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Beyond Amazing!
Now on to the good stuff: The wildlife.
The abundance and variety of wildlife was astounding. The Sand River flows through the reserve and draws the wildlife to it. As we were being shown our room (all with a view of the river) a herd of elephants came down for a drink. It just got better from there. Our first morning game drive gave us the Big 5 before we stopped for lunch! Before the day
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was over we had also seen cheetah and wild dogs to round out Africa's Super Seven. Our evening game drive that day ended with a lioness and her three week old cubs on one of their first ventures out of the den. Absolutely amazing! I would return to MalaMala in a heartbeat.
Kevin H. Brown
Visited:
May 2013
Reviewed: Aug 12, 2013
Mala Mala was absolutely AMAZING!
Brett and Yuri were amazing guides. It was a great experience and we got to see the Big 5 in just 2 days.