South Africa is the ultimate holiday for nature lovers, animal enthusiasts, stunning sunsets, and the best luxury lodges in South Africa. Our first time in South Africa was truly a life-changing trip. South Africa is one of those ultimate bucket list destinations you have to visit in your lifetime.
South Africa was one of the most incredible and purpose-driven trips of my life. Being in Africa just makes you realize how we could be and should be living. Being in the wilderness and seeing all the animals is a major bucket list experience, and it’s absolutely mind-blowing. It makes you feel so small in the best way.
Royal Malawane is part of the Royal Portfolio. The properties are so epic and truly made our trip incredible, which is why this is the best luxury safari lodge in South Africa. This is the most luxurious of the luxe African resorts, and it has even inspired guests like Elton John to come for a stay.
Here is our full review of all three properties to help you decide which is best for your exclusive getaway (or stay at all three for the ultimate luxury South Africa safari experience).
While this was a hosted stay, all opinions shared here are our own.
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Royal Malewane’s Three Luxury Safari Lodges
Royal Malewane has three incredible properties right outside Kruger National Park from the Royal Portfolio. The three safari lodges include Malewane, Farmstead, and Waterside. They also have a popular hotel in Cape Town called the Silo Hotel if you visit that side of the country.
We were lucky enough to experience all three at Royal Malewane, and each property offers unique experiences, incredibly luxurious accommodations, amazing guides, and animals all around.
Malewane Lodge
Malewane Lodge was the first property we checked into and combines the more classic safari lodge experience while still providing timeless luxury accommodations. This lodge is full of stunning eclectic design, bright colors, and amazing views across the bush.
We stayed in both the main lodge situated around a large lap pool and one of the luxury villas here. Everything was incredible, and it was the perfect combination of rugged bush, elevated experiences, and lavish accommodations.
Farmstead at Royal Malewane
Farmstead at Royal Malewane provides the safari experience of your dreams with a more contemporary design. Everything about this lodge was dreamy and elegant, but it still provided the amazing safari experiences that Royal Malewane is known for. This was the second property we stayed at, and after our first night at Farmstead, I really may be ruined because of how hard it will be to top the complete experience there!
Waterside Lodge
Waterside Lodge was the last property we stayed at in Royal Malewane, and it did not disappoint! The lodge provides what they say is “redefining luxury on safari.” And they are right in that description!
Our room was so amazingly beautiful inside and still had that eccentric Royal Malewane design. Make sure to book one of the villas if you want to have a private plunge pool to relax in each day.
The Ultimate Safari Villas & Luxury Suites
All three of Royal Malewane’s properties offer private villas and luxury suites. The private villas we stayed in are perfect for groups traveling together.
The villas include private game drives, amazing amenities, all meals and snacks, premium South African wines and drinks, and private services for you and your travel party.
The Africa House at Malewane Lodge
One of the most colorful and eccentric villas I’ve ever seen, the Africa House is a private six-bedroom villa that sleeps up to 12. It’s perfect for large groups of friends or families traveling together. Each room has its own vibe, so everyone can pick the perfect room for the vibe they want.
The pool with the villa is epic and a great way to cool off in the middle of the hot African days. This villa is THE ultimate safari villa if you have to choose just one! Recently re-imagined, the style reflects the amazing elevated and eclectic Malewane design.
Along with private safari drives, you also get a private chef, a private butler, a gym, and a spa treatment room in the Africa House. This stay was the epitome of luxury, and I’m not sure I’ll ever look at another property the same way after experiencing this level of attention to detail. It was a truly perfect stay.
Farmhouse at Farmstead Lodge
A bit more contemporary than the Africa House is the Farmhouse which also comes with a private chef and private butler as well as a private game drive vehicle. This villa sleeps six and merges luxury accommodations and refined style with the same private experiences for your travel party.
The swimming pool is epic, and with a dreamy bathtub overlooking the brush from one of the bathrooms, it was hard to leave. There is also a private wooden deck overlooking the bush with a variety of spaces to sit and take in the views.
Waterside House at Waterside Lodge
Sleeping 8 guests, the Waterside House at Waterside Lodge has so many amenities including a heated pool, library, lounge, waterside bar and dining, and fireplace. This lodge truly brings elegance to the bush and merges nature with luxe.
We spent our last two nights here, and even after so much luxury, this was still incredible. Talk about bathroom goals with a tub in front of sliding glass doors that open to the bush so you can soak and enjoy the natural surroundings. The high ceiling had the classic style of Royal Malewane and gave the whole space an open and airy feeling I loved.
Experience the Best South African Safari at Royal Malewane
Kruger National Park is the oldest and largest National Park in South Africa and is the best place to go for safaris since it has one of the most dense populations of wildlife. Kruger National Park is not only home to many animal species, including 93% of the world’s endangered white and black rhinos, but also has five unique ecological zones.
The best time to visit Royal Malewane for incredible game viewing is in the dry season, which is September and October. However, Kruger is a great destination year-round, especially with the expert guides from Royal Malewane.
Royal Malewane sits on Thornybush Private Game Reserve. Since Royal Malewane is on a private game reserve sharing an unfenced border with Kruger National Park, it is a great place to stay for game drives and animal viewing. The animals cross between Kruger and Royal Malewane often, so it’s not uncommon to see wildlife at the lodge. Lions walk through the property at times, and we watched elephants drink from the waterhole on the property during our stay.
Safari at Kruger National Park with Royal Malewane
Game drives with Royal Malewane go out in the morning and evening each day for the best animal viewing in open-top Land Rovers. Depending on your room type, you will either have included game drives with a group or private vehicles.
The private drivers and guides give you an elevated experience for the best animal viewing and epic sunsets. It means they can customize the experience to the animals you care about seeing and take more time or move on to the next spot based on what you want to do and not based on an entire group.
The Royal Malewane guides provide blankets and hot water bottles to keep you warm on cool mornings, and expert guides help find the most incredible animals for you to enjoy. They truly have the best of the best when it comes to guides.
Keep your eyes open for the big 5 (rhinos, elephants, lions, leopards, and buffalo), as well as some of the other incredible animals that aren’t as easy to spot! If you have a private driver, they can organize epic experiences that allow you to get up close to the animals while respecting them and keeping both guests and animals comfortable.
Royal Malewane Kruger Safari Guides: The Most Experienced and Qualified Guiding Team in Africa
The guides at Royal Malewane are the best and highest-qualified guides and trackers in Africa. They are all conservationists with degrees and certifications as well as a passion for conservation. There are over 350 years of experience between guides, with many levels of certifications between the teams.
I’m not exaggerating when I say that our guides Nigel and Lawrence were the BEST team you could ask for! Even with very close animal encounters, we felt very safe and trusted our guides with our lives. The whole team makes the experience so special and enjoyable.
Local guides and master trackers work together make for the most qualified guiding team to create the best safari experience possible. Both know the local animal populations and look at footprints, the way branches have moved, etc. The next thing you know, you are tracking a lion pride who was hunting the night before.
On our first morning, we saw an elephant just five minutes from the lodge. Right after that we were surrounded by a whole herd of elephants! It was a moment I’ll never forget and such a magical memory to take home with me.
Our Experience at Royal Malewane South Africa
We were up early every morning for our guided game drives, but that didn’t stop us from enjoying sunrise before heading to the drives. We would start with coffee on the safari truck, and just a few minutes later we would be guided right to the amazing animals that our guides Nigel and Lawrence had tracked.
Each day was so amazing and filled with a variety of animals like elephants, lions, leopards, and giraffes. Each day was a little different with the animals moving around in the wild, so staying for several days means multiple safari experiences and is a must!
We were so amazed at how many animals we saw just minutes from the lodge. The reserve at Royal Malewane is known for having some of the best animal sighting areas in South Africa. We even saw leopards one day. Leopard sightings are fairly rare, so we were pinching ourselves with excitement!
We enjoyed lunch at the lodge during the heat of the day and often cooled down in the pool between our early morning and evening drives. Our tables always had stellar views of the watering hole, bush, or animals, and we even had elephants walk up to the watering hole. Eating in the lodge’s main dining area is such an unforgettable dining experience.
Each safari drive was special, from epic sunset drinks, cozy morning coffees, night drives with prides of lions, incredible South African wines, endangered rhino sightings, and epic African sunset setups. Everything was so special. There are very few places in the world where you can sit and sip a gin and tonic while watching hippos, but this is one of them.
Royal Malewane also offers game walks, dining under the stars, conservation activities, helicopter flights, starlight safaris, and more! Everything is very curated for you to have the best experience. Not only are you having the best wild experience in the bush, you’re also getting the highest level of luxury you can possibly imagine
Conservation at Royal Malewane
Royal Malewane focuses heavily on its conservation efforts for the animals, the environment, and the locals. If you’ve followed me for a while, you know this is one of the top things I look for in hotels we work with or stay at. We love to give back and support properties, NGOs, and people doing good for the world and the planet.
As a founder of the Greater Kruger Environmental Protection Foundation, there are numerous projects that Royal Malewane is working on. Some of them include a counter-poaching dog unit, an epic Rhino Conservation project, water supply programs, conservation research, as well as many humanitarian projects to give back to local communities.
The Rhino Conservation project was especially interesting to us since we got to see rhinos on our drives. These animals are highly endangered and are poached for their horns regularly. To help conserve the species, their horns are often removed so that poachers are no longer interested in them.
Seeing these amazing animals was incredible, but hearing how Royal Malewane is making huge strides to protect the environment and the animals really blew us away.
Royal Malewane South Africa Review
South Africa’s Royal Malewane is the perfect property for those looking for an unrivalled wildlife experience while staying in a hotel that represents true luxury. This is one of those bucket list hotels that may ruin any other place you stay because it’s such a high level of service. It’s such an elevated and exceptional safari experience that it deserves a spot on every bucket list.
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