Rovos Rail: an honest look at South Africa's luxury train
We've spent time aboard Rovos Rail. Here's our honest take on the cabins, the routes, the food, and whether it's worth the price.
7 min read
The people behind the planning
Vikki Jackson
Co-founder. She writes the dispatches: the people and the moments that make a safari worth crossing the world for.
Her beat Stories & Voices
A note from Vikki
I grew up in Manchester and came out to Africa at 21. There were years in corporate life along the way, doing work that looked good on paper, but the bush kept winning the argument. Marula Hill is what happened when I stopped arguing back.
I've celebrated most of my life's milestones out here, and I've introduced more friends to their first leopard than I can count. My favourite animal is the hyena, which tells you most of what you need to know about how I feel about underdogs.
In the journal I write the dispatches: the sightings that go wrong beautifully, and the small human moments no brochure will sell you. And when a trip needs rethinking on the fly, a lodge switch or a last-minute charter, I'm usually the one on the phone.
Vikki
Co-founder, Marula Hill
From the journal
Everything Vikki has written
Kosher safaris in South Africa: how a bush kitchen actually works
The honest guide to keeping kosher on safari in South Africa. Three tiers of catering, real pricing, Shabbat in the bush, and how we put one together.
7 min read
Zambia by birdsong
A field journal on birding in South Luangwa and the Lower Zambezi. Carmine bee-eater season, African skimmers, Pel's fishing owl, and what birds do to a safari when you let them.
9 min read
Safaris designed around the people travelling
Safaris built around the people travelling, not the brochure. How we plan for LGBTQ+ guests, dietary needs, family configurations and accessibility in South Africa.
5 min read
How we plan a vegan safari in South Africa
A working guide to building a fifteen-night plant-based safari, from Cape Town's Atlantic coast to two private reserves in the Greater Kruger
10 min read
What does a luxury African safari actually cost?
A luxury African safari runs $1,200-$3,500 per person per night at the lodge, with two weeks for two people typically landing between $40,000-$80,000 all in.
5 min read
Wheelchair accessible safaris in Africa
A practical guide to wheelchair accessible safari destinations and lodges across Africa, from Kruger to the Okavango Delta.
4 min read
Multi-generational safaris in Africa: the rise of private villas
Multi-generational safaris are the fastest-growing way families travel to Africa. Private villas and exclusive-use lodges, planned around different ages. The how, the why, and what they cost.
8 min read
Solo women on safari
How to plan a safe, well-organised solo safari in southern Africa as a woman
4 min read
The real cost of a luxury safari in South Africa
What the money actually buys you, and where lodges quietly inflate
4 min read
Tarangire: Tanzania's other great safari park
Huge elephant herds, ancient baobabs, and very few crowds. Here's why we include Tarangire in nearly every northern Tanzania itinerary.
4 min read
Namibia or Botswana, which safari should you choose
Red dunes and distance, or water and density
3 min read
The slow letter
A quarterly note from the bush
No noise, no marketing. Just the letter we'd write to a friend who asked what it's really like out here.