Marula Hill
Hundreds of journeys, and still as obsessed as the day we started.
Who we are
We are Vikki and Sian, the two of us who run Marula Hill. We plan safaris from a small office, we answer our own phones, and we have stayed in most of the lodges we recommend. Where we haven't, we will tell you, and we'll only suggest a property we have proper, current intelligence on: from operators we trust, recent client feedback, or industry visits we have made ourselves.
The "we" on this site is not a marketing voice. It is the two of us, between us picking up calls, replying to emails, walking lodges, and sitting with clients before the trip and after.
01
Vikki came out of fifteen years at IBM, on the operational side of complex global projects. The kind of work where you plan the trip, the people, the timings, the contingencies, and then you plan them all again. That instinct shows up in how every Marula Hill itinerary is built.
02
Sian spent her career in FMCG marketing, in the kind of brands where the product has to be right, the story has to be right, and the customer is the only thing that matters. She brings the editorial eye, the brand instinct, and the obsession with the small details that make a stay feel considered.
03
Two careers gave us the discipline. Africa gave us everything else. The first private bush walk in Klaserie. The first kill on foot. A wild dog den in the Sabi Sand. Once you have that hour, you stop looking for it anywhere else.
What we actually do
We hold direct contracts with the lodges in our portfolio. There is no agent in the middle, no white-labelled call centre, no booking platform deciding what you see. When you ask a question, you get an answer from one of us.
For the lodges we have stayed in, we can tell you what the rooms are actually like, which guides we trust, which kitchens are honest about allergies, which lodges are good for children and which are really not. Some of them we have visited more times than we can remember.
Recognised by
LUXLife Boutique Safari Agency of the Year
2024 · 2025 · 2026
Why we are still doing this
After hundreds of trips, the parts that make us write this page have not changed. The pause before the first morning drive. The cup of bush coffee that goes cold because something walked past. The deck conversation that runs longer than the second bottle.
Next twenty trips better than the last twenty.
If this sounds like the kind of safari you want
A first call, no quotes, no pressure. We will only put pen to paper when we have something worth quoting.
Start with a conversation.
One of us will write back.
