Marloth Park is a wildlife sanctuary and holiday town situated in northeastern

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in the

lowveld Veld ( or , Afrikaans and Dutch: ''veld'', field), also spelled veldt, is a type of wide-open, rural landscape in Southern Africa. Particularly, it is a flat area covered in grass or low scrub, especially in the countries of South Africa, ...

region of

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Nguni languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It shares bor ...

province (formerly

Eastern Transvaal Mpumalanga () is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Nguni languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It shares bor ...

), between the towns of Malelane and Komatipoort. It occupies an area of some 3000 hectares and shares a boundary with the

Kruger National Park Kruger National Park () is a national park in South Africa covering an area of in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in the country's northeast. It extends from north to south and from east to west. The administrative headquarters are i ...

Geography

It is located along the south bank of the Crocodile River, which also forms the southern boundary of the

, while its Lionspruit section of 1500 ha borders the N4 national freeway to the south. The Kruger Park's Malelane and Crocodile Bridge entry gates are respectively 35 km and 14 km to the west and east. Marloth Park boasts four of the “ Big Five”, the exception being the bush elephant. Buffalo,

rhino A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...

and

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...

are confined to Marloth's game reserve, Lionspruit; Visitors have access to Lionspruit in their private vehicles, though some tracks may require a 4x4. Picnic and braai areas, besides viewpoints and water places are found here. The remaining game species such as

kudu The kudus are two species of antelope of the genus '' Tragelaphus'': * Lesser kudu, ''Tragelaphus imberbis'', of eastern Africa * Greater kudu, ''Tragelaphus strepsiceros'', of eastern and southern Africa The two species look similar, th ...

zebra Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), the plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. ...

giraffe The giraffe is a large Fauna of Africa, African even-toed ungulate, hoofed mammal belonging to the genus ''Giraffa.'' It is the Largest mammals#Even-toed Ungulates (Artiodactyla), tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on ...

blue wildebeest The blue wildebeest (''Connochaetes taurinus''), also called the common wildebeest, white-bearded gnu or brindled gnu, is a large antelope and one of the two species of wildebeest. It is placed in the genus ''Connochaetes'' and Family (biology), ...

nyala The lowland nyala or simply nyala (''Tragelaphus angasii'') is a spiral-horned artiodactyl antelope native to Southern Africa. The species is part of the family Bovidae and the genus '' Tragelaphus'' (formerly placed in the genus ''Nyala''). It ...

impala The impala or rooibok (''Aepyceros melampus'', lit. 'black-footed high-horn' in Ancient Greek) is a medium-sized antelope found in eastern and southern Africa. The only extant member of the genus '' Aepyceros'', and tribe Aepycerotini, it ...

, bushbuck,

warthog ''Phacochoerus'' is a genus in the family Suidae, commonly known as warthogs (pronounced ''wart-hog''). They are pigs who live in open and semi-open habitats, even in quite arid regions, in sub-Saharan Africa. The two species were formerly cons ...

baboon Baboons are primates comprising the biology, genus ''Papio'', one of the 23 genera of Old World monkeys, in the family Cercopithecidae. There are six species of baboon: the hamadryas baboon, the Guinea baboon, the olive baboon, the yellow ba ...

vervet monkey The vervet monkey (''Chlorocebus pygerythrus''), or simply vervet, is an Old World monkey of the family Cercopithecidae native to Africa. The term "vervet" is also used to refer to all the members of the genus '' Chlorocebus''. The five distin ...

ostrich Ostriches are large flightless birds. Two living species are recognised, the common ostrich, native to large parts of sub-Saharan Africa, and the Somali ostrich, native to the Horn of Africa. They are the heaviest and largest living birds, w ...

and others aren't restricted by fences and roam freely between the units that occupy the northern section. In addition other small game and a varied bird life is present. Sometimes, lions from Kruger Park roam into Marloth Park.

History

It opened in 1972 as a holiday township, before Marloth Park was founded in 1977. It is named after German botanist, Rudolf Marloth, after whom the native '' Aloe marlothii'' is named. This plant is found abundantly in the middle and lowveld.

Tourism

Marloth Park is a stopover point for tourists travelling to the Kruger National Park, to

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

or to

Eswatini Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where i ...

. Many lodges and private houses are found inside the Park. The holiday town is a unique project, in that a large part of the park was left natural. Besides the boundary with Lionspruit, there are no internal fences and the vegetation remains in an original state. Marloth Park is separated by a boundary fence and by the Crocodile River from Kruger Park. Meanwhile, the infrastructure of the natural park is well developed. Inside Marloth Park movement is not confined to the housing units. Freedom of movement allows tourists to ride a bicycle or go for a walk on their own through the bush. While walking along the Crocodile River, wildlife scenes of the adjacent Kruger National Park also come into view. Local restaurants, shops and a filling station are easily accessible.

Climate

Marloth Park features a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

with mild winters and hot summers.

Notable residents

* , French writer.Le Quotidien de la Réunion,''La terre promise n’existe pas'', Stéphanie Buttard, 29 mars 2021 * , South African writer.

References

External links

Marloth Park Web Site Home Page

Marloth Park safaris site

Marloth Park honorary rangers site
*
Marloth Park Weather Site

Marloth Park Property Owners Association
{{Ehlanzeni District Municipality Populated places in the Nkomazi Local Municipality 1972 establishments in South Africa