History of William Alfred Campbell & Lady Campbell

About W.A. Campbell

After the Act on National Parks came through in 1926, the farmlands to the West of the Kruger National Park became available for purchase.

William Alfred Campbell, also known as Wac, bought a piece of land for £2150 that was named the Eyrefield Farm and another named MalaMala for £3656. These farms were seen as a great wildlife area, ideal for hunting and entertaining wealthy people.
Campbell built the first camp near the Mlowathi River that flowed into the Sand River.

When the river came down, it was hard to cross and he decided to move the camp in 1930 to the western side of the river bank. This camp is still situated here today.
The camp accommodated many rich and famous people that included royals, like Alexander Cambridge, former Governor-General of the Union of South Africa, Her Royal Highness Princess Alice as well as the first Earl of Athlone. They all came during their winter hunting excursions.

William Alfred Campbell wildlife recordings

During 30 years, Wac recorded many incidences, behaviors as well as the comings and goings of wildlife in MalaMala, as well as their status and numbers.
Campbell notched the increasing numbers of warthogs and the declining of the sable antelope numbers through his recordings and also mentioned at the end of his report that 130 guests had enjoyed MalaMala that season, more than half of these having been women and children (a new development). Wac signed the report as “Colonel” and was never to return to MalaMala.

William Alfred Campbell died on 17 September 1962, after which his son Urban inherited the farm.

Lady Campbell

Lady Campbell finally arrived at MalaMala in 1935 for the first time. She decided to make the camp look more presentable, planting lush bougainvillea around the camp. You will still find these beautiful flowers blooming in the modern-day MalaMala Camp.

Urban Campbell

After Urban Campbell inherited the farm, he decided it would be best to not hunt in the area and rather focus on photographic wildlife safaris.

Urban soon sold the farm in 1964 to a company named MalaMala Ranch (Pty) Ltd – the shares of which belonged to Michael Rattray. In 1970, MalaMala was described by TV Bulpin’s Discovering Southern Africa as “luxurious accommodation for up to 22 people at a tariff of R30.00 per day” (which seemed as a very high tariff when you consider that 5-star hotels were charging R12 per day, bed and breakfast).

The W.A Campbell 1929 Hut Museum in Skukuza

The Kruger National Park was opened to the public in 1927 and by 1929, the first purpose-built accommodation facilities at Sabie Bridge or Reserve (as it became known) housed their first guests.

The first hut named the “Campbell Hut” – after W.A. Campbell, a founding member of the National Parks Board, has been preserved as a tiny museum showcasing the early years of tourism in the Kruger Park and is located near Skukuza’s restaurant. In those early years, visitors could enjoy (or dread) crossing the Sabie on a rickety pontoon, which was only replaced by a low-level causeway (still in use today) in 1937.

Hut number S1 (Campbell hut museum) is the oldest in the Skukuza camp and has been restored to its original state. W.A. Campbell was one of the first members of the Parks Board and he donated this hut in 1929. One can view original artifacts from that era in the hut.

Next to Campbell hut museum is an original red Pegasus petrol pump as well as the smallest hut in Kruger. It was used as a broom closet.

The Campbell hut museum is certainly worth visiting during your Kruger National Park safari vacation.

You can find the Campbell hut museum in Skukuza Rest Camp in Kruger National Park, to the right of the picnic area in the main-camp near the Sabie River, opposite to the Moni Guest house.

YES! We offer affordable Kruger National Park safaris

Our rates include the following:

Transfers from a pre-arranged pick-up location to Kruger National Park and back (this can be at your accommodation where you are staying, depending on the location). This includes Nelspruit | Kruger National Park | KMI Airport | Skukuza Airport | White River | Hazyview | Malelane | Komatipoort and Marloth Park
Full Day safari with a luxury open safari vehicle
An accredited & professional Field Guide doubling as the driver of the vehicle on the day of safari
A snack box per person consisting of various treats to munch on during the day of the safari
Assistance with Kruger National Park entrance/conservation fee payments, paperwork and permits
The use of high-quality, waterproof ponchos on-board the vehicle when needed

Please note:

Please contact us if your accommodation falls outside of our area of operation.

We also conduct safari tours in the North of Kruger upon request and need. You also have the option to hire the safari vehicle privately, email us to find out more. Additionally, you have the option to add your Kruger entrance/conservation fees when you make your booking so you don’t have to go to the office on the morning of the safari to make payment for entrance fees.

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REVIEWS

Fantastic experience

We really enjoyed our safari with Liz and the web photographer. They pointed out many sightings which we would never have seen on our own. We saw 3 leopards, many elephants, rhinos, cape buffaloes, giraffes, zebras, hippos and different types of antelopes and birds.
They provided binoculars which helped a lot, especially when observing the leopards in the reed!
The service is top: on time, friendly, very informative and you get a feeling how much they enjoy “going the extra mile” for the customer. They tried to keep ahead of the crowd and do not enter thru Numbi gate which is usually very crowded. Its great the park fee is included in the price because then you do not need to queue at the entrance like in the case of some of the other operators. We will definitely recommend you!

dorischristina2015, TripAdvisor

Emocional experience

When we thought about that trip, my wife, my stepson, our friend and I ,had never imagined how amazing could be , and how deep can touch us. From the first moment when we founded Lizelle, our guide at the Malelane door, the magic begins to happen.She was so unreal in some way, that my wife said ( in Portuguese,) she seems to be a caracter from a movie!, We had very good luck , and in just 2 full days, 20 hours total, we could see the real big five, including black rhino and leopard, and many many other species, of course. Lizelle was so nice, so professional and so dedicated that we are recommended to our friends around the World to do the same program.. .. we will repeat it for sure. There is not words, not video or pictures, that can transmit this experience, .. believe me, after you live it you will understand it .

FellowTraveler507918, TripAdvisor

Great services! Amazing commments

The guide was very friendly and helpful!
She really knew the way around the park and we were able to see a big variety of animals

344hama, TripAdvisor

Super accommodating and informative.

Liz was super patient in making sure we get the morning bush walk and night drive within limited dates. They know lots about every animal we saw. I love that they provide parkas for their guests because it gets super chilly as the truck moves. Their truck is clean and not loud like other trucks which tend to scare the animals away.

Zzame Em, Google Review

Leading Safari Company

Lion Roar Safaris offers safaris in Kruger Park. In an excellent car and with professional equipment we discovered in a small groupe the big 5. The guide was an expert and is very customer oriented.

DutchAdventurer, TripAdvisor

Spectacular day in the Mighty Kruger!

Even if the weather was cold during the day, the spectacular sightings we had made up for it all. Luckily this company is not one of those that rush from one big sighting to another but rather take it at a slower pace and therefore not miss even the small things like some bird species and trees and plants, lizards and much more.
Oh and I am so glad their Photographer was also on board with her very sharp eye sight. She spotted plenty of animals where the rest of us missed them…especially that Cheetah! And she took the most beautiful pictures (and some short videos clips) of all our sightings that day. We were surely one lucky group of people seeing all those magnificent wildlife, especially the Elephant Calves, Wild Dogs as well as Hyena Pups!
Oh and let’s not forget the snack bags that was packed for us!!
The Guide was very informative and interactive with our group. Evidently her kindness and helpfulness is not only restricted to the time a guest is on her vehicle still busy on the Tour but even helping when one of our group members was staying over at a place in the Kruger Park, she assisted him from booking in at the camp to taking him to where he would be staying, to briefly showing him around on what is where and available to him in the camp. And this all took merely a few minutes.
I would definitely be recommending Lion Roar Safaris.

Grifinne, TripAdvisor

Best experience ever!

Lizelle was very informative and made sure we had the best views of all the animals!

Johan , Google Review

Amazing experience

Staff is professional and on time.
We saw a lot of animals like lions cheetah hyenas rhinos elephants hyppos and many others.
Really an amazing day!! Thank you!

valeva2019, TripAdvisor

Some of the services Lion Roar Safaris Offer…

Upmarket Luxury Safaris I Tailored Safaris I Professional Personal Holiday Photographer I Hire a Professional Field Guide I Hire a Private Safari Vehicle I Accommodation in and around Kruger I Photographic Safaris I Safari catering – picnic lunches, dinners and BBQ’s and more…

History of William Alfred Campbell & Lady Campbell