Timing changes everything
The same lodge can be exceptional in May and the wrong choice in November. We know which is which, and which weeks suit the way you want to travel.
Safaris, the way we’d plan our own
An owner-run safari practice based in the Greater Kruger. We design safaris across Southern and East Africa, for families, couples, and small private groups who want the planning done properly and quietly.
Who we are
A small team, hands-on
Marula Hill is Vikki and Sian, with Roxanne on reservations. A shared love of safari brought us to the bush, and we built the business here rather than running it from a city desk. We live in the Greater Kruger, forty minutes from many of the lodges we book, and we travel the regions we plan so we are recommending places we know first-hand. Roxanne keeps every booking moving from Johannesburg, and Alon advises on kosher travel for the families who need it.
We plan tailor-made safaris across Southern and East Africa for families, couples, and small private groups who want the planning done properly, and quietly.
The person who answers your first email is the person on WhatsApp the day you arrive. And the one you call when something needs to change.
Vikki Jackson
Born and raised in Manchester, moved to Africa at 21, and never really left. The one you'll speak to when a plan needs rethinking on the fly, whether that's a lodge switch, a last-minute charter that needs organising, or a wedding that has to change venue.
Sian Loehrer
Bush nut and quiet conservationist. Notices the light on the deck at five and the pangolin tracks nobody else spots. If you write to us about your trip, you are probably writing to Sian first.
In their words
186 reviews. Rated five stars on Google
5
186 reviews
Vikki and Sian listened attentively and paired me up with the most compatible travel agent, Roxanne, who found me the full moon in the Magkadikgadi Salt Pans of the Kalahari. I came back re-energised, highly inspired, and immensely thankful.
Vikki planned a flawless family safari for us with two young children. Sabi Sabi Bush Lodge for four nights, then Cape Town for three. The attention to detail gave us the confidence to take the children at six and nine.
Sian planned our honeymoon across Tanzania and Rwanda. The proposal arrived as an interactive page with photos, accommodation links and optional activities, all in one place. The trip itself was extraordinary from arrival to take-off.
Why a safari specialist matters
A safari is not a hotel booking
A good safari is shaped by hundreds of small decisions. We make them for you.
The right room matters
A standard suite and a private villa are two completely different holidays. We pick the room that fits your group, your pace, and how you like to travel.
You skip the costly mistakes
We do the hard thinking up front. The wrong lodges, the dry season pretending to be the green, the family room that sleeps four on paper. By the time you arrive, the decisions left are which lens to use.
01 / Timing
Timing changes everything
The same lodge can be exceptional in May and the wrong choice in November. We know which is which, and which weeks of the year suit the way you want to travel.
02 / Room
The right room matters
A standard suite and a private villa are two completely different holidays. We pick the room that fits your group, your pace, and how you actually like to travel.
03 / Judgment
You skip the costly mistakes
We do the hard thinking up front. The wrong combination of lodges, the dry season pretending to be the green season, the family room that sleeps four on paper. By the time you arrive, the decisions left are which lens to use.
How we work
Safari planning, done properly
Four steps from first conversation to last sundowner. Click or tap any number to see how we work.
01
A real conversation first
A call or a long message. No commitment, no quote forms. We want to understand the trip you are imagining, your travel history, and what you have always quietly hoped Africa might give you.
02
A proposal that surprises you
We do not just suggest the obvious. We bring options you would not have found yourself: a newly reopened concession, an off-peak rate at a lodge usually out of reach, a combination of countries that fits your dates exactly.
03
We refine until it's right
We iterate together. Some clients take three conversations to finalise. Others take two weeks of back-and-forth. We only confirm the booking when you are completely certain.
04
We are with you in country
Pre-travel prep, packing notes, what to expect on the ground, and a direct line to us while you are in country. If anything changes, we handle it before you have to worry.
Where we work
A short list of places we know
We do not pretend to know every corner of Africa. We work the regions we have lived and travelled in, with operators and lodges we know well – many we have slept in ourselves, the rest through people we trust on the ground.
How we travel
Six ways to think about a safari
Most of our work falls into one of these. Each one is a starting point, not a finished package. Where you go, who guides you and how the days run is decided with you.
Family safaris
Lodges that are good with children
Kids on safari is mostly about pacing. We pick lodges that welcome younger guests properly, build in shorter game drives, swimming, and time off the vehicle. Older teenagers get walking safaris, river time, and the same level of guiding the adults get.
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Romantic safaris
Two of you, one vehicle, nowhere to be
The version of a safari you remember years later. Private decks, dinners moved into the bush, a guide who reads the room and gives you space. We design the days so the romance is in the detail, not the theatre.
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Sole-use villas
Private chef. Private guide. No other guests
Sole-use means the lodge or villa is closed to other guests for the length of your stay. Your own chef, your own guide, your own vehicle. Staff working only for you. The right answer for families travelling together or anyone who wants the bush without the lobby.
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Kosher safaris
Private kosher villas. Shabbat in the wild
A safari that holds to kashrut without compromise on the bush experience. Private kosher villas, a visiting mashgiach where required, and lodges that understand Shabbat and the festivals. We plan the kitchen, the supply chain, and the schedule so the only thing you have to think about is the wildlife.
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Gorilla trekking
An hour with a habituated family. The rest is the forest
Gorilla trekking is one morning of your life that you will not stop telling people about. We pair the permits with the right forest lodges, sort the porters and the boots, and build the rest of the week around recovery, primates, and the lakes.
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LGBTQ+ safaris
Lodges and reserves where you are properly welcome
We only book LGBTQ+ travellers into lodges and countries we know are safe and warm. Owner-run lodges we have worked with for years, with staff and guides who treat every couple the same. We are direct about which countries we will and will not send you to, and why.
Read more →Not sure which is yours? Shape your safari →
Caps for a cause
Africa's wild dogs are quietly disappearing
Fewer than 7,000 painted dogs remain. Snares, habitat loss, and disease are pulling the species apart pack by pack.
We make a range of Marula Hill caps, and proceeds from each one go to wild dog conservation. Where logistics allow, we send our international travellers home with one.
Field notes
Long reads, told properly
Stories, guides and voices from the people we work with. Slow, considered, and never written for the algorithm.
Your safari begins with a conversation
Tell us who is travelling, when you would like to go, and what kind of trip you have in mind. We will listen first, then shape a considered route with availability and a day-by-day plan.
What does it cost to work with Marula Hill?
Our answer
There is no planning fee. Our commission comes from the lodges we book, and we are lodge agnostic – we recommend what suits you, not what pays us most. Planning, logistics, lodge selection, and being on the end of the phone if anything needs adjusting: none of that is charged extra. It is how we work.
The honest bit is that if you tell us your dates, your budget window and what matters most, we will tell you what is actually possible rather than what sounds good. Shoulder seasons often open up options that feel out of reach in peak. South Africa can stretch a budget differently to Botswana or East Africa. Start with a conversation and we will map out what makes sense.
Why a small agency over a large operator?
Our answer
Large operators are excellent at logistics and indifferent to who you are. When you call a big company, you speak to whoever is rostered that day. When you write to us, you speak to Vikki, Sian or Roxanne. The same small team who plan your trip remember your daughter is nervous in small aircraft, that you do not eat shellfish, that you wanted to be back at the lodge before the evening drive. That continuity is the entire product.
We are travelling with children. Can you plan a family safari?
Our answer
Family safaris are a specialism. The work is in knowing which lodges genuinely welcome younger guests, which build the day around families, which have children's programmes that are more than a colouring book at turndown. There are also lodges we steer families away from, beautiful on paper but built for adult quiet. We know which is which.
What happens if something goes wrong while we are on safari?
Our answer
You have our direct line throughout the trip. Weather delays, missed connections, a lodge that is not what we promised it would be, a medical issue. We have handled all of these. The advantage of working with people who know the lodge managers, the regional airlines, and the on-the-ground operators is that things get fixed before they become problems. The phone gets answered.
How far in advance do we need to book?
Our answer
For peak season (June to October) and Africa's most exclusive lodges, twelve to eighteen months ahead is ideal. That said, we are also specialists in finding extraordinary last-minute availability: cancellations and special release rates that give clients access to lodges well outside their usual budget window. If you have a specific trip in mind, tell us now and we will tell you honestly what is achievable.
Stories
Royal Malewane reopens: what we remember, and what the fact sheet confirms
The original Royal Portfolio property is back after months behind scaffolding. We haven't seen it yet. Here is what we know anyway.
Voices
We run on solar and we have not printed since 2019
Vikki and Sian on solar power, paper, and what a small safari company can honestly claim.
Guides
Sandringham Private Game Reserve: should you go early, or wait?
Greater Kruger's newest reserve opens in August 2026. Our honest take on who should book Sandringham early, and who should give it a few seasons.
Guides
The packing guide
What to bring on safari, what to leave at home, and the one thing no lodge can lend you. An honest packing list from the team in Hoedspruit.
Stories
How do you want to feel when you get home?
Why we plan safaris around how you want to feel when you get home, not around a pin on the map.
Guides
South Africa's online traveller declaration: what it means for your safari (and what it doesn't)
A five-minute customs form now stands between you and the arrivals hall. Here's what it is, who needs it, and what nothing to declare actually means for a normal safari guest.
Stories
Safari After Dark
Night drives reveal a different Africa. Quieter, older, more deliberate. Here's what we love about the bush after the sun goes down.
Safari Planning
How we tailor every Marula Hill safari
We don't start with destinations. We start with you: your pace, your family, your idea of a good day in the bush.
Stories
When space teaches: what Saseka's refresh tells us about gathering in the bush
What a thoughtful safari lodge refresh tells us about gathering in the bush.
Stories
Inside FedAir's new Baobab lounge at Hoedspruit
The new Baobab lounge at Hoedspruit airport changes how a safari begins. Vikki Jackson on the room that holds you before the bush does.
Guides
How safari pricing actually works
From the people who build the quotes. What you are really paying for, where the money goes, and how to spend it well.
Stories
Monwana, and what coming home actually means
By Vikki Jackson and Sian Loehrer. A week at the Thornybush lodge that has built its whole identity around the word home, and what we found when we tested it against the room, the drives, the afternoons and the bill.