Marula Hill is an owner-run safari consultancy in Hoedspruit, in the South African Lowveld. Vikki Jackson and Sian Loehrer run it, and our small team answers every enquiry personally.
Where we came from
We are both ex-corporate. Vikki started out at IBM, on the operational side of large, complicated projects, where the job was getting people, timings and contingencies to line up. Sian spent her corporate years in marketing for several major consumer brands, where the job was knowing what a customer actually wants.
For years we were the two people friends and colleagues rang when they wanted to go on safari. In the end we each asked ourselves whether we would still do this if we did not need the salary. The answer was yes, so we left and started Marula Hill.
The old jobs turned out to be good training. A safari booking is a small project with a lot of moving parts, and somebody has to care about every one of them.
How the local specials began
When Covid hit in 2020, the borders closed and the guests who flew in from abroad stopped coming. We had to pivot the business, so we turned to the people who were still here: South Africans who wanted to get out into the bush.
We started sharing the lodges' own South African resident rates, and we have been doing it ever since. What began as a way through a hard year became the part of our work we would not give up.
What we do
- We gather South African resident rates from game lodges and boutique hotels into one place, so you can see them side by side.
- We show the lodge's own rate. We never change the price you pay.
- We check availability with the lodge and reply in person.
- We pay the property as soon as we receive your payment, so your booking is secured straight away.
Why it helps that we live here
The Lowveld is our backyard. Many of the lodges on this site are about 40 minutes from our desks, and the people who run them are people we deal with every week. When you ask us a question, we can usually pick up the phone to someone we know.
Who the rates are for
South African residents. You will need proof of residency, usually a South African ID, when you check in. Conservation and park fees are extra unless a rate says otherwise.
The formal part
Marula Hill Travel is a member of SATSA, member no. 3049.
See the current specials, or browse every lodge from A to Z.
