After 3 nights at Malelane Camp we headed to Marloth Park; it was Easter and Kruger was completely booked up. We spent 4 nights there, making day trips in via Crocodile Bridge which is 14km away, thank goodness for our WildCard! It was busy though, and we started queuing at 4.45am to get in. Word of advise – probably best to not go to Kruger on Easter weekend!!

Marloth Park is actually a small town where there are lots of holiday homes as well as residents. There is a lot of wildlife roaming about, and you can go for walks and bike rides. There are two little shopping centre and a garage with everything you could need. I think that if it was out of season, it might be a nice place to stay for families. Aside from it being Easter weekend and insanely busy, I just found it quite strange. There are signs to say don’t feed the animals, in addition to signs that say only feed the animals pellets bought from a certain shop, which are apparently not harmful to the animals. In my opinion, it is the interaction with animals that is the problem, as well as what they are eating. Lots of the houses had animal feeders in their gardens too. So naturally, we were warned that some of the warthog could get aggressive … if you don’t feed them. Surprise! It was very peaceful there in the evenings the kudu came very close to where we were sitting, we also had bushbaby jumping through the trees over our heads.

Marlothi Safari Park is very good value for money and the Manager, Athol and his wife Tess went out of their way to ensure everyone was happy. Each camp/caravan site has a brick braai area, and a little hut with toilet, shower room and kitchen with fridge, sink, cupboards and gas. All were absolutely spotless. They even allowed us to do some washing free of charge. Exceptional value!

One horned wildebeest

Another beautiful sunset

Pongracz, provitas and cheap cheese.

warthog

Baby elephant

saw so many tortoise

Very skinny giraffe

Wildebeest with a bad hairdo

mongoose

Shy steenbok

frog took a liking to Erik’s cap

You can’t go to the game reserve without rusks.

Very skinny giraffe

Tortoise

There is a timeshare chalet and we chatted to a family who had been visiting there for years, and they loved it. Whilst I wouldn’t go back to Marloth Park, I would definitely still recommend it to others. It’s just my personal preference as I am very much against interaction with wildlife and if I am going to spend time in the bush, I would rather feel like I am in the bush not a holiday resort. That’s just me!

You can rent a caravan/camp site at Marlothi Safari Park for R300 per night per stand.