After a 55 minute flight from Johannesburg, our Beechcraft 19 passenger plane landed at Malamala Game Reserve. This landing was particularly exciting for us as this is our first safari stop. Malamala is the largest private game reserve in South Africa and covers about 45,000 acres. The reserve borders Kruger National Park Game Preserve. Animals, including those from the "big five" - that is, lion, elephant, Cape buffalo, rhino, and the leopard can be seen at Malamala. These animals freely roam between Kruger and Malamala.
While at Malamala, we're staying at Sable Camp. Upon arriving at the lodge, visions of roughing it were quickly dispelled. The Sable Camp facility has air conditioning in its central lodge, library and 19 rooms/suites. A pool is available for afternoon dips, a fitness facility for those inclined, massages are offered and our stay includes all meals, two daily safari adventures and laundry service. Oh, and mobile phone and wireless Internet services are also available at the lodge. Although you could easily forget you are in the wilderness from the lodging, we were reminded that we need to be escorted to our room in the evening.
The rooms and suites at Malamala are similar to a high-end lodge. Somewhat of an unexpected but welcome South African wilderness experience. One surprise was that our room as three bathrooms. No reason to be late for 6am morning animal viewing.
One of the recent developments at Malamala is that the N'wandlamharhi Communal Property Association acquired Malamala Game Preserve in early 2014. The previous and long time property managers continue to operate Malamala. The approximate 2,000 members of the N'wandlamharhi community will benefit from this partnership through greater job opportunities and economic benefits.
After our lunch, we met with three other guests and Grant, our ranger for the next three days. We proceeded on our first safari drive. The drive followed dirt paths and, at times, cross country in pursuit of animal sightings. One distinct advantage of visiting a private game reserve is that the ranger driven vehicles are not constrained to existing roads. You simply follow the animals, as long as the Land Rover can be safely driven. During our safari, we saw wildebeast, impalas, elephants, giraffes, a hyaena, a leopard, warthogs and mongoose.
We ended our viewing safari and 7pm and regrouped at 8pm for a traditional South African outdoors "boma" dinner. A four course dinner was served and enjoyed by all. Tomorrow we'll have breakfast at 7am and go out for four hours.
The rooms and suites at Malamala are similar to a high-end lodge. Somewhat of an unexpected but welcome South African wilderness experience. One surprise was that our room as three bathrooms. No reason to be late for 6am morning animal viewing.
After our lunch, we met with three other guests and Grant, our ranger for the next three days. We proceeded on our first safari drive. The drive followed dirt paths and, at times, cross country in pursuit of animal sightings. One distinct advantage of visiting a private game reserve is that the ranger driven vehicles are not constrained to existing roads. You simply follow the animals, as long as the Land Rover can be safely driven. During our safari, we saw wildebeast, impalas, elephants, giraffes, a hyaena, a leopard, warthogs and mongoose.
We ended our viewing safari and 7pm and regrouped at 8pm for a traditional South African outdoors "boma" dinner. A four course dinner was served and enjoyed by all. Tomorrow we'll have breakfast at 7am and go out for four hours.
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