MalaMala: A community owned camp with unfiltered wildlife

MalaMala landscapes are truly spectacular covered by kopjes, marula trees and 13 miles of river frontage where today I saw large herds of elephants with their young puffing like mad. We have 33,000 acres all to ourselves in the game-rich Sabi Sands, an area with a high percentage (in the 90 percentile) of animal sightings.

Overlooking this land of natural beauty is our main camp comprising 19 rooms while Sable Camp is situated further south, and Rattray’s, our more opulent 8-room camp is tucked away for a more exclusive experience. We have the usual boma dinners (if it’s a rump day, I’m there), in-room massages and bush breakfasts. However, what really sets us apart is our unbeatable location right on the unfenced border of the Kruger National Park and with one vehicle per 2,350 acres, the traffic is among the lowest in any private game reserve in the country.

On safari, we see lots of leopards and sometimes you can come across the entire Big Five on just one drive. Even when the game is slow, you’re still going to see something amazing whether you’re in a 4×4 or on a bush walk to learn about the different types of flora and smaller savannah creatures. At camp you’ll also enjoy unfiltered sightings. One morning, I saw two leopard cubs learning how to hunt a baby nyala. I’ve been with the company for 16 years now and this memory will always stay with me.

I can proudly say that MalaMala’s land is owned by community shareholders. Around 8,000 people benefit from tourism including the staff, 80% of whom are local plus the 12 students who undertake our internship programme every year. I’m very proud of the way in which we create these opportunities for people like me who started off as a cleaner before working my way up to be the camp’s first black GM. Tomorrow I’ll be out amongst the local communities seeing what we can do as a company to help.