Mpala Safari Lodge is the result of a dream of a haven in Africa which started with our vacation in 1989. Back then we travelled on our first safari, which was a tent expedition amongst lions and elephants without any kind of luxury.
In the year 2000, following a lovely vacation in South Africa with our two children, we decided it was time to find our own place. Ole and Annelise were only 9 and 6 back then, but they were just as excited about the African atmosphere as we had been 11 years prior.
The following year, as we again traveled to South Africa, we found the perfect place where we since have built Mpala Safari Lodge in the midst of unspoiled nature right by the Olifants River in the world famous nature reserve Great Kruger National Park.
Per, a construction engineer, knew how to organize the constrution and contacted a skilled architect and a contractor. Quality and architecture were given highest priority and in January of 2003 the lodge was ready to receive it’s first guests. Apart from the couple of times that some lions and buffalo bothered the construction workers, everything went according to plan.
During the construction period Helle was planning the layout and interiors, right down to the smallest purchase of teaspoons to the design of furniture which was special made for us. A skilled interior designer helped by giving ideas and inspiration, but no choices were made until we ourselves had seen and touched the goods after endless visits to the markets and meetings with the craftsmen.
Estel, our skilled manager at Mpala, has been with us from the beginning – in fact, many of our employees are still the same, which we appreciate. We have become a family.
We live in Denmark, north of Copenhagen, but luckily we have the possibility to travel to Mpala 3-4 times a year, so we are never away from our paradise for too long.
The warmest regards and welcome to Mpala
Helle og Per Grunert