FAQ'S at MALAMALA

Yes, malaria is endemic to the Mpumalanga region of the country including MalaMala Game Reserve and the Kruger National Park. We don’t believe that we have ever had a guest who contracted Malaria whilst at MalaMala Game Reserve. Notwithstanding this, in the interests of your personal safety we recommend that precautions be taken.

Please consult your physician for further information on the various anti-malarial prophylactics available.
For additional information on the malaria situation in this region, you can also contact the Kruger National Park malaria hotline on + 27 (0) 82 – 234 1800 or visit the website http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/faq.htm

NO, MalaMala Game Reserve does not collar or make use of any tracking devices on any animals on the reserve. Approximately 10 years ago, the Kruger National Park electronically tagged a leopard for scientific reasons which territory overlapped onto MalaMala Game Reserve but equipment for the detection of the animal was not available to MalaMala Game Reserve.

Under no circumstance would MalaMala Game Reserve ever bait leopards (or any other predator). It is against South African law to do so. In any event, MalaMala sees up to 12 leopard in a day. It would not seem logical to bait predators with such regular sightings of MalaMala’s predators. MalaMala has been in operation for aprroximately 43 years and by traversing the reserve daily, many of the predators have become habituated to the game viewing vehicles, enabling rangers to have wonderful sightings from a respectable distance.

Our phenomenal rate of viewing success is directly attributed to the fact that MalaMala comprises 33000 acres or 16000 hectares of pristine game viewing land, making it the largest privately owned Big 5 game reserve in South Africa, with human density and impact on the land being kept to an absolute minimum. Another reason is the unfenced border between MalaMala and the Kruger National Park, which allows herds of animals to migrate unhindered to the perennial Sand River which flows north to south through the MalaMala Game Reserve for 20 kilometres or 13 miles. The MalaMala camps are situated on the western side of the river, thus ensuring that unhindered access to the river is afforded to all animals approaching from the Kruger National Park.

Daily walking safaris with an armed ranger are arranged.

* Comfortable walking shoes, sun hats, sun-glasses, sun screen.
* Camera and binoculars.
* Summer: lightweight clothing and swim wear, warm clothing for game drives.
* Winter: light clothing for daytime, very warm insulated jackets for
    game drives.
* Please note, we do request that gentlemen wear trousers to dinner.

South African Airlink operates a daily scheduled flight service from Johannesburg International Airport directly into the MalaMala airfield in the MalaMala Game Reserve (approximately one hour 15 minutes) -

Alternatively MalaMala Game Reserve is an easy five and a half hour drive from Johannesburg.

Bush breakfast / picnic lunch – we are very happy to arrange a bush breakfast or picnic lunch at no additional charge. Guests have a choice of either a continental or full English breakfast.

Sundowners/ cocktails are served whilst on the afternoon/ evening game drive. At sunset, you will stop off in the bush, and while sipping your “sundowner” watch the sun as it sinks into the dusty horizon.

We do not offer bush dinners. Why have a dinner in the bush when you can have the opportunity of hunting with lions late into the night and perhaps witness a kill? Insects are also a problem, along with the unpredictable weather in the African bush.
From a security point of view it makes no sense to have a dinner in the bush with the high density of predators in the area.

MalaMala rangers are highly qualified, formally trained men, with university degrees in the natural sciences, and are thoroughly conversant with all aspects of ecology.

Sightings of lion, leopard, rhino, buffalo and elephant are viewed on a daily basis. Herds of antelope, giraffe, zebra and wildebeest, along with hyena, jackal, the endangered wild dog and cheetah add further depth to the safari experience at MalaMala.
Visit www.malamala.tv to get a preview of the wildlife experience available at MalaMala. This website, updated every 5 days with descriptive and visual sightings, also provides a gallery for past guests whilst highlighting the sightings witnessed over the past months. Guests are able to read up on the histpry of specific territorial animals and keep a record of their movements and behaviour long after their MalaMala experience has past. The most noteworthy monthly sightings are summarised at the end of the month together with remarkable visuals captured on the reserve.

MalaMala is situated in the eastern part of South Africa in the province of Mpumalanga. It shares a common border of 19km / 12 miles with the Kruger National Park and is part of a conservation gene pool that covers 5.5 million acres of land in the heart of the South African Lowveld.

MalaMala Game Reserve is a one hour flight or 5 and half hour drive from Johannesburg.

* It was the first operation to make the transition from hunting safari
to photographic safari in 1964.
* Open vehicles seating a maximum of 6
* Off-road driving, able to track animals in thick bush.
* Spotlight evening safaris
* Armed rangers and experienced trackers
* University qualified rangers
* Finest quality gameviewing (including the members of the Big 5) on the
African continent.
* MalaMala comprises the largest tract of privately owned land in South Africa. MalaMala's world-wide renown has been gained due to its uncompromising high standard of service, sound conservation management policies and the fact that it consistently provides the finest game viewing on the sub-continent.

No. MalaMala retains the exclusive use of the 33000 acres that make up this property. We do not traverse over other reserves, nor do they have traversing rights over our property.

MalaMala Camp and Sable Camp have a permanent internet connection via Satellite at 128kbps - there is no extra charge to guests for the use of the service.

The guest rooms have an analogue dial-up jack available for those guests with lap tops with built in modems. A connection speed of 45kbps can be expected from the rooms.

Rattray's on MalaMala has continuous internet connectivity (512k wireless link via sattelite conection) in each suite.