Hotel Description

Hidden in the Waterberg, where ancient mountains shelter malaria free! Big Five wilderness and diverse ecosystems converge along the Matlabas River. 

Canvas and stone luxury on the plains, with the Waterberg Mountains as your backdrop. Fifteen tents where families find their rhythm between game drives, pool time, and deck life under African skies.

Marataba Safari Lodge is for the active family safari. A place in the mountains to unwind or find adventure. The 15 Luxury Tents (including four Family Luxury Tents) bring you closer to nature without having to rough it.

The stone and canvas abodes each have a king-sized bed, en-suite, outdoor shower, and shaded viewing deck, while the Family Luxury Tents give children their own bedroom and bathroom. A guest pool is located next to the main lodge area. Between the hours spent on safari, guests can relax at the pool, enjoy an in room spa treatment, or simply choose to take it all in.

Luxury lodge tents

Family Luxury Tents: Your family’s own canvas home on the plains. Parents retreat to the main bedroom while kids claim their bunkroom kingdom next door – complete with toys, games, and their own bathroom. Game viewing from the deck before breakfast. Stories from today’s drive over dinner. Everyone together, everyone with space. Safari at its most natural.

Features

• 4 guests
  king bed
  children’s room with a bunkbed
  Outdoor Shower
  private terrace
  947ft²

Luxury Tents:

• 2 guests
  king bed
  Private terrace
  Outdoor Shower
  Aircon

Wilderness Dining: Breakfast might unfold on the deck as wildlife moves through morning mist. Lunch keeps things light after morning game drives. Dinner transforms depending on weather and mood: refined plated service when mountain storms roll in, or boma fires under clear Waterberg skies when stars demand attention.

Bush picnics, surprise sundowner stops, and lantern-lit dinners happen in locations that make the meal unforgettable – proving that sometimes where you eat matters as much as what you eat.

Experiences:  Make travel meaningful, delivered across South Africa’s most remarkable landscapes. Safari with expert field guides, dine under stars, connect with communities, restore between game drives.

Safaris: Witness the Big Five where Sabi Sand meets Kruger National Park. Expert field guides and trackers position you for intimate wildlife encounters across 12,400 hectares of exclusive wilderness.

Game Drives: Duration: ±3 hours. Open safari vehicles, head out at sunrise and again in the late afternoon to find the reserve’s many animals, both diurnal and nocturnal. No more than 10 vehicles are in the concession at any one time and, because the animals are accustomed to them and do not see them as a threat, the field guides are able to take guests within close range of Africa’s most impressive species.

• Includes: a hot beverage or sundowner stop in a scenic spot to purely appreciate being in the bush and in the moment
• Children of all ages are welcome on designated family vehicles (two available), limited to eight guests per vehicle

The Wildlife: Big Five encounters where mountain ecosystems create unexpected diversity: Big 5 / Rare species / birdlife

Game Drives and Bush Walks: Marataba’s landscape – mountains rising beyond plains, rivers threading through valleys – creates safari experiences unlike anywhere else. Game drives reveal diverse wildlife across varied terrain, from open grasslands to rocky outcrops where leopards hunt.

Bush walks sharpen your senses, bringing you close to tracks, scents, and smaller ecosystems that vehicles miss. Miss Mara water safaris offer a completely different perspective, floating quietly past hippos and waterbirds whilst your guide interprets river life.

Exclusive Experience: Marataba’s private management agreement within Marakele National Park provides exclusive access unavailable to day visitors. Fewer vehicles, longer sightings, freedom to follow animal movements across varied terrain. The Waterberg provides dramatic backdrops to wildlife encounters – watching herds move across plains with ancient peaks beyond, or observing how different species utilise the transition between mountain and savanna ecosystems.

Safari Surprises: Morning drives pause for coffee with sneaky Amarula tots and rusks. Your field guide knows the perfect sundowner spots – gin cocktails and local bites as the setting sun turns the Waterberg golden.

Spa & Wellness: The hours between safaris are an ideal time to spend being pampered. A selection of indulgent therapies is offered by expert therapists in the quiet retreat of guests’ own rooms or private decks at Safari Lodge, while Mountain Lodge has a Spa Sala for guests.

Guests choose from massages, exfoliations, reflexology, and facials with TheraNaka herbal-infused spa therapy products – all ethically formulated with the finest natural and organic healing ingredients – as well as manicures and pedicures.

Yogis will find no better place to stretch out any leftover tension than on their private decks overlooking the serene reserve. Guests need not pack their mats with these available to borrow from the lodge reception

Inclusion: Accommodation; All meals; teas/coffees; minibar in room; Laundry, inclusive drinks and selected snacks (all soft drinks, and a selection of beers, spirits and house wines); two game drives daily with a FGASA-accredited field guide; game drive refreshments and snacks; specified inclusive safari activities; Wi-Fi

Exclusions: Premium brand beers, spirits, cellar wines and champagnes; cigars and cigarettes; all flights and transfers not specified; Thabazimbi Airport transfers and landing fee; Matla Mamba Airstrip transfers; gratuities; telephone calls; MORE Gallery purchases; spa treatments; landing fees; Marakele National Park entrance fee and guest conservation contribution; Impact Levy; any extras will be for the guests’ accounts

Marataba Safari Lodge Offers 33% Off & more below: Travel period 01 June to 31 August 2026 for Crewconnected members

Travel Period: 01 June to 31 August 2026 / Bookable: Anytime to travel before 31 August 2026

Offer: 33% OFF / Special Rate: R14,150 per person per night sharing

Make your booking request concierge@more.co.za / kingsby@more.co.za Quote CREWCONNECTED Airline Staff Rates

Tel: +27 (0) 11 880 9992