Situated within the greater Kruger National Park area and surrounded by the Sabi Sands Private Game Reserve on three sides, Mala Mala is an independent private game reserve that offers visitors spectacular wildlife viewing. It is the largest private “Big Five” -- lions, leopards, elephants, rhinoceroses and buffaloes -- game reserve in South Africa. The park shares an unfenced border with Kruger National Park, allowing animals to freely move between the parks unhindered by fences.
Aside from the Big Five, the reserve is home to a broad variety of animals, birds and indigenous flora and fauna. Cheetahs, hyenas, wildebeest, zebra, hippopotamus, giraffes, and Cape wild dogs are among the animals that roam the land. The area’s vegetation consists of woodland savanna, dense riverine forest, acacia bushveld, open grassland and rocky outcrops. The Sand River flows north to south through the park and attracts abundant wildlife in the dry season.