On our last South African safari, we sampled a few camps in different areas and fell in love with MalaMala. Their motto: “It’s all about the wildlife.” resonated with us and the whole reason we love safaris.
We also learned that they had just finished a renovation of the famous Rattray’s Camp and we were excited to see how they could possibly improve upon what was already an amazing experience.
If you look at the marketing material, all the camps look fantastic. But, just like with real estate, location, location, location, are the three most important things when choosing a camp.
If you look at the map of the Sabi Sands area, the Sand River passes through the MalaMala Game Reserve, and the animals come to the river to drink. Most of the private reserves won’t allow outside vehicles across their boundaries so it’s great to find a camp with prime riverfront access or a watering hole.
Another thing we loved about the MalaMala Game Reserve was their care and consideration for the animals. On any given sighting no more than two jeeps can be present.
When new cubs are born, the rangers give the mother space and gradually introduce the sound of vehicles to the cubs in a non-threatening manner. They have been doing this for a while and you can see the passion the rangers have for the animals.
We’ve been to other game reserves that literally crowd and chase after the animals to entertain the tourists (who often just don’t know any better).
When to go
Winter (May-Aug) is the best time to go as it’s the dry season. The underbrush is mostly leafless allowing one to spot animals more easily. The dryness also forces animals to come to drink at a shrinking number of watering holes as the season progresses and these start to dry up.
The only downside is that it can be quite cold in the mornings. We bring lots of layers and as the day wears on, the sun warms up considerably. We usually start with a raincoat shell to break the wind over a puff jacket for warmth over a sweater and/or a fleece. These layers come off one by one as things warm up and by noon we’re usually ok with just a light safari shirt to protect us from the sun.
Getting there
We made plans to spend a week in Namibia and since we were connecting in Johannesburg, we reached out to MalaMala directly. The team there was fantastic and got us on a charter flight directly to their airstrip next to the lodge. They can also arrange land transfers from Skukuza Airport.
Due to flight timing, and to add a little buffer just in case, we opted for an overnight stay in Johannesburg after our flight from Namibia (which was in fact delayed). The in-airport Intercontinental is a great property and as a bonus the Federal Airlines crew were going to pick us up directly in the hotel lobby. A great system. Flying into MalaMala from Johannesburg and back with a Federal Airlines charter is easy and convenient. The airstrip is just a 5 minute ride from the camp.
On arrival at the camp, we met Rebecca who had just been chasing away a rambunctious male elephant that had made its way pass the front gate. Not even breaking a sweat she was at the jeep to greet us and welcome us to Rattray’s Camp.
Rattray’s Camp Renovations
The camp at Rattray’s was already luxurious before the makeover but the recent renovations make it even nicer.
The main camp had a new deck and a more open concept layout with some of the old walls removed and new floor to ceiling windows installed. Updates are reflected everywhere from a new menu (exquisite) to new artwork and mirrors throughout. It looks like the old Rattray’s Camp but somehow newer and more contemporary.
The rooms also retain the old Rattray’s comfort with modernizations throughout. USB charging stations and fast internet. Nespresso coffeemakers and milk frothing machines. We had an assortment of cookies and sweets too!
The bathrooms have been completely redone with beautiful marble tiles and modern faucets. A nice towel warmer has been installed and there’s a stand-alone tub on one side and a shower on the other side. What were previously separate rooms have now been transformed into a more modern open concept. We approve wholeheartedly and loved it even more than last time.
Upon arrival we had a nice lunch from the new menu and quickly geared up for the afternoon game drive. The creature comforts could wait. Off to see the animals we went.
As always MalaMala did not disappoint. A beautiful leopard crossing the road was soon seen and our guide Lauren followed it into the bush for a while. A great start. We spotted a host of birds along with the usual antelopes, elephants, giraffes, baboons, and more. As light faded, we headed back to the camp and on the way we even saw two, not one, genet cats!
Rattray’s new menu
The first night we had a delightful dinner in the boma. Each night, our lovely host Rebecca organized a different venue for us, be it on the terrace or in the dining room. Dishes were exquisite and presentation was beautiful. The menu had a wide variety of options including vegetarian and healthy choices. Each dinner was an event! Both wonderful and creative.
Dinners were preceded by creative mixes and mocktails from barman Zweli. The different groups would gather in the bar where we could compare notes on the day’s sightings.
A typical day at MalaMala Rattrays Camp
Next day, we headed out before dawn. We could hear lions roaring not far from the camp. We quickly downed some coffee and headed out in the search of lions. We were always the first out and the last to return.
Our efforts were soon rewarded with a couple of huge male lions right on the airstrip. They greeted us with loud roars. What a sight. As the sun rose both lions started towards the river giving us the best sunrise pictures ever.
We continued our drive and saw a black-backed jackal, dwarf and banded mongooses, and of course the usual contingent of antelopes (including small ones such as a family of klipspringers, and MalaMala’s emblematic animal, the greater kudu).
After the drive we were back for a hearty breakfast and then back to our room to relax before the 3pm game drive to do it all over again.
Typically, the animals are less active in the warmest hours, so the game drives are scheduled for early mornings and late afternoons. Even so, our cottage overlooked the Sand River, and we could not help ourselves from continuing to spot for animals. From our deck, we saw elephants crossing the river, a hippo fully out of the water, and a buffalo.
The schedule continued over the next few days with the early morning drives and afternoon drives. Lauren took us out one day with a packed breakfast so we could do an even longer morning game drive.
Highlights included a lioness with three playful cubs, two huge male lions, two other lionesses, three white rhinos, six leopards (the Piccadilly female, the Three Rivers female, the Split Rock male, and the Nkoveni female with two cubs). One leopard had a fresh kill in a tree.
Other exciting sightings included an African wild cat, a hyena den with three cubs, two honey badgers, a pack of at least five painted wolves, three lionesses with nine cubs, and more.
Aside from the individual sightings what was equally impressive was the scenes where there were just hundreds of animals together. We crossed a herd of over 40 elephants which were crossing another 200 antelopes, with a smattering of zebras, kudus, giraffes and more.
There were also many colorful birds like our favorite the lilac-breasted roller.
See our South African Bird Gallery
In the end every game drive was a success and we were delighted by what we saw!
The end of an adventure
While excited and happy to head home to our cat it was still a sad goodbye as the Rattray’s team had treated us like family. They all came out to greet us with hugs and we made us promise to return (which of course we did, will full intentions of following through!).
Our return was to be much more direct than the long trip with overnight stays we had on the arrival. We flew direct from MalaMala to Johannesburg with Federal Air that leaves direct from the MalaMala Airstrip. We then connected directly to our Qatar flight with a brief 2-hour connection in Doha where we had a chance to buy a few goodies. Our final 15-hour flight to Miami gave us a chance to look at all our wonderful photos from another very satisfying adventure at MalaMala.