It is immediately clear on entering the Marataba that this is a lodge of high quality. Its supremely spacious main building comprises a large restaurant and an equally generous lounge with an open fireplace, which opens onto an extensive lawn scattered with shade-giving trees. From here, guests can enjoy uninterrupted views of the eye-catching Waterberg Mountains. A cosy fire is lit during the winter months and the lodge’s glazed front opened during the summer months.

Meals are served on a private basis, either outside in the beautiful garden, on the veranda, in the restaurant or in the comfortable lounge/library. The Marataba boasts an excellent wine cellar.

Built of stone, glass and canvass, the lodge’s fifteen exceedingly comfortable suites each features a spacious bathroom (shower and freestanding bathtub) and private veranda.  

Marataba Safari Lodge is situated in a private 25,000 hectar concession within Marakele National Park. A popular photo subject, the majestic Waterberg Mountains are very close by and visible at all times from the lodge or game drive vehicle. The name Marataba in fact means “place of peace at the mountain.” Over the millennia, the Matlabas River has carved dramatic gorges through the terrain.

The lodge is about four hours by road from Johannesburg.

Because it is situated between South Africa’s dry west and its rainier east, Marakele National Park offers various habitats for flora and fauna. The park is home to the Big 5: Elephant, buffalo, lion, leopard and rhino – the latter being quite a common sight.

Since 2000, when Marataba was formally proclaimed, several significant conservation milestones have been achieved. The first was the clean-up of old farmland into national park. Hundreds of kilometres of fencing was removed and megafuana, including elephant, black and white rhinoceros, hippo and buffalo, relocated within the boundaries. Healthy populations of antelope still existed, and it was these good numbers of prey that allowed for the reintroduction of iconic carnivores such as lion and cheetah.

The lodge offers game drives, bushwalking and afternoon boat safaris on Miss Mara. A short drive from Marataba leads to the other side of Marakele National Park where guests can marvel (after a short walk) at thousands of cape vultures, which breed here from May to August.

Marakele National Park is free of malaria.

SwissAfrican Travel Service
Dammstrasse 27
8702 Zollikon
Zurich, Switzerland


Telephone: +41 (0)44 451 40 51