SOUTH AFRICA


visitor to


South Africa’s largest private Big Five preserve once commented: ‘calling Mala Mala a hotel is like calling the space shuttle a plane’.And how right that was and indeed still is: hotels don’t have hundreds of species of animals running wild on 45,000 acres of prime riverine thornveld; hotel rooms don’t come with a virtual guarantee that in a two or three night stay, guests will find themselves within metres of lions, leopards, rhino, buffalo, and elephants.


Opened in 1962, the reserve has not only been in operation for the longest, but is also one of the most luxurious lodges in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve, a cluster of private holdings next to


20 THEINSIDER


By Lucy Clifton


Kruger National Park in the northwest corner of South Africa. MalaMala today has three camps on the banks of the Sand River, with rondavel-style abodes and airy buildings with white-panelled ceilings.


Traditional decor includes hand-woven rugs and South African art whilst other luxuries include a well-stocked library, an equally well-stocked wine cellar, a viewing deck and an infinity pool. From the restaurant, authentic dishes to try include coq au vin and venison steak or perhaps impala pie or ostrich carpaccio. But for all its exclusivity, one feels very much in Africa at MalaMala, a sensation beautifully underscored when the female kitchen staff becomes a chorus, dancing and singing tribal music after dinner.


Thanks to its water hole location and the fact that it is the largest private game reserve in the country (quid pro quo:


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