PRACTICAL & PROVEN

The questions you should ask

When to go. What to pack. What flying between lodges actually involves. Visa rules, malaria realities, packing weights. Useful answers, written without the marketing voice.

Read these before you book anything

HOW WE THINK ABOUT THESE

We answer the question, then the next one

Most safari planning advice online is written to rank on Google. It hedges. It never tells you what is actually true. We write the opposite. If a region is worse in March, we say so. If a lodge is overpriced for what it offers, we say so. If a transfer route is bumpy and four hours long, we put that in the first paragraph.

Some of these are short answers, the kind you read on your phone in a queue. Others are longer because the question deserves it. Cost. Season. Comparison. Logistics. Health. The pieces that turn a vague idea into a confirmed booking.

38 pieces

Browse the guides

Kosher drinks and snacks on a game drive

Guides

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.

Vikki Jackson

Boat in Mozambique, blue ocean

Guides

When to go to Mozambique: a month-by-month read on weather, water and wildlife

A month-by-month read on Mozambique weather, water and wildlife. Whale sharks, humpbacks, mantas, cyclones, dry season.

Sian Loehrer

A luxury safari lodge at night with lanterns around the pool

Guides

How long should a safari actually be

Seven nights minimum, ten nights ideal: a plain guide to safari length

Sian Loehrer

Elephants at a waterhole in a dry South African game reserve at golden hour

Guides

Malaria-free safaris in South Africa

Big Five reserves in South Africa where no malaria prophylaxis is needed

Sian Loehrer

A male lion resting in dry winter grass in the lowveld

Guides

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

Vikki Jackson

Vegan safaris in Africa: an honest look at where plant-based travel actually works

Guides

Vegan safaris in Africa: an honest look at where plant-based travel actually works

Plant-based safari travel works well across Africa when the chef has a proper brief. A composite week, the questions guests actually ask, and where vegan still requires real planning.

Sian Loehrer

Wheelchair accessible safaris in Africa

Guides

Wheelchair accessible safaris in Africa

A practical guide to wheelchair accessible safari destinations and lodges across Africa, from Kruger to the Okavango Delta.

Vikki Jackson

Aerial view of a luxury private safari villa beside a river in Africa, the kind of exclusive-use property that suits multi-generational family travel.

Guides

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.

Vikki Jackson

Solo women on safari

Guides

Solo women on safari

How to plan a safe, well-organised solo safari in southern Africa as a woman

Vikki Jackson

The real cost of a luxury safari in South Africa

Guides

The real cost of a luxury safari in South Africa

What the money actually buys you, and where lodges quietly inflate

Vikki Jackson

Tarangire: Tanzania's other great safari park

Guides

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.

Vikki Jackson

Namibia or Botswana, which safari should you choose

Guides

Namibia or Botswana, which safari should you choose

Red dunes and distance, or water and density

Vikki Jackson

WHEN YOU HAVE READ ENOUGH

We will plan the rest

A good guide saves an hour. A planner saves a week. Once you have a sense of where and when, send us what you are thinking. We will pressure-test it and come back with the version that works.

Start with a conversation

Write to us

One of us will write back.

Replies come from Vikki or Sian. No obligation, just a conversation.

Prefer to write to us directly? sian@marulahill.com · WhatsApp +27 82 459 0648