MalaMala is the largest privately owned game reserve in South Africa. Renowned for the frequency and consistency of its big game sightings, MalaMala draws visitors from across the globe and most leave again having seen all of Africa’s famed Big 5 - sometimes within a single game drive!
MalaMala has been run by the Rattray family for over four decades, and was one of the first tracts of private land to switch from hunting to photographic safaris. Still today international and local photojournalists and film makers (including National Geographic) choose MalaMala as a prime destination to capture wildlife footage, and many of these documentaries have won international accolades.
While MalaMala has three comfortable camps, what it's really known for is phenomenal game viewing. Game drives tend to be longer than in other private reserves, and are conducted on open safari vehicles: MalaMala Main Camp and Sable Camp only accommodate 6 guests per vehicle whilst Rattray's on MalaMala limits the number of guests to 4 per vehicle.
MalaMala's highly qualified, formally trained guides are thoroughly conversant with all aspects of ecology, and most have a university degree in the sciences. Above and beyond this, our clients always tell us how their MalaMala guide made every effort to understand what they wanted out of their safari and then went out of his way to ensure they had the best experience possible.