Monarto Safari Resort: Experience life on an African-inspired safari in Adelaide

As the first rays of sunlight hit, the sky across the vast plains at Monarto Safari Resort, about an hour’s drive from Adelaide, turn from amber, white, and indigo to blue. While the ombre symphony played out across the skies, the animals in the 550-ha open-range safari park — the largest outside Africa — are starting to wake up.

Squinting my eyes at my room’s balcony, I saw herds of oryxes and zebras make their way towards a waterhole in the middle of the grounds, while outlines of giraffes jutted out in the horizon. Witnessing this crack-of-dawn spectacle is what guests at Monarto Safari Resort can look forward to every morning. 

The 78-room hotel, which opened on May 28, marks the first time that visitors can stay within the grounds of Monarto Safari Park, which opened in 1983.

The AUD$40 million ($33.39 million) development is run by Australian experiential travel company Journey Beyond, which also operates train journeys such as The Ghan and Indian Pacific, the Melbourne Skydeck, and The Telegraph Station in Alice Springs, among other attractions.

Monarto Safari Park is home to 500 animals spanning over 50 species, most of which can also be found in Africa, such as rhinoceroses, cheetahs, giraffes, zebras, elephants, and scimitar-horned oryxes. The resort is situated in the park’s Wild Africa segment, on the northwestern edge of the park, a two-minute drive from the main compound. 

The resort’s backyard faces a waterhole in the middle of the vast grasslands, where animals congregate throughout the day for a sip. 

There’s no better way to take in the awe-inspiring views than by soaking in the two pools that face the safari park (don’t worry, there’s a fence). The two pools flank a walkway to an observation platform, where deck binoculars are available for spotting animals roaming the safari grounds. I spotted giraffes feeding on canopies of leaves for breakfast, while eyeing the resort’s upcoming luxury glamping development, which will open early next year.

The room

Keeping to the safari theme, the resort is decorated with stone walls, wooden ceilings, and a khaki-brown palette, with pockets of greenery. The Waterhole King bedroom (from $307 a night), where I stayed, is decked out in shades of khaki and brown, and features wooden furnishings and rattan chairs.

However, the spacious 344 sq ft room looks slightly sparse at the moment, and a couple of artworks and accessories (aside from a lone coffee table book) could give it a more lived-in, cosy room.

The room features a separate living area, complete with a dining table and a zebra-striped sofa, perfect for lounging around and taking in the views of a waterhole on the safari. The view from the full-length sliding windows that open out to the balcony is, undisputedly, the best asset of the room. 

The balcony faces the waterhole directly, which comes alive as animals such as giraffes and zebras gravitate towards it throughout the day. I would gladly spend many hours languishing on the tent chairs, taking in the serene views of the vast open plains.

The Waterhole King bedroom also offers views of the waterhole, making it an excellent spot to admire the sunrise from the bed. The bathroom has ample space for two people, thanks to its lengthy dual counter and mirrors that stretch across the room. The bathtub, on the other hand, is petite.

The Waterhole rooms face a waterhole, so it is worth the extra effort to catch the sunrise with the animals. During my recent two-day stay, I witnessed herds of oryx, giraffes, and zebras grazing the grasslands from a distance from my room’s balcony as the morning sky gradually brightened to a tri-coloured brilliance.

Bring a pair of binoculars, or you’d end up squinting your eyes to see patches of animals camouflaged against the grasslands that mimic the savannahs of Africa.

F&B options

Kutjera, which means “blue tomato” in the indigenous language, is the resort’s all-day restaurant. It serves produce and wines from South Australia, including beef and pork from the Barossa Valley and Fleurieu Peninsula, as well as cheeses from the Adelaide Hills.

The restaurant boasts floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook the safari grounds. I had my buffet-style breakfast, featuring typical Continental and Australian-style dishes, accompanied by the sight of giraffes chomping on leaves in the morning.

For dinner, the restaurant offers a full à la carte menu created by executive chef Ajay Zalte, ideal for a sharing-style meal.

Start the meal with freshly shucked Smoky Bay oysters, creamy Adelaide Hills burrata, or the Kangaroo Carpaccio. The slabs of the dark red-hued meat are fibrous, but not overly gamey, and offers a good chew coupled with the acidity and sweetness from the citrus gel and lemon thyme.

The mains include Barossa Valley pork — a succulent pork belly block and fried cheek covered in indulgent crackling, jazzed up with lemon myrtle apple confit, and fork-tender braised lamb shoulder crowned on a heap of jollof rice.  

There’s also a cocktail bar that is strategically located by the pool. Cocktails while basking in the safari never looked so tempting. 

Experiences

I went on the Sunset Wildlife Safari tour (from $139), one of two daily tours that are exclusive to resort guests. The 2-.5-hour-long group tour is held in the Wild Africa precinct, a separate area from the main grounds of Monarto Safari Park. The specially carved-out precinct is home to various vast enclosures with free-roaming animals surrounded by grasslands and mallee shrubs.

During my guided tour, I was in one of the two safari trucks, which seat around 25 people each, offering close access to animals grazing or walking around in the enclosures named after national parks in Africa. The trucks were parked at a safe distance from the roving animals for shutterbugs to snap as many photos as they desire.

My safari tour group saw many animals relaxing out in the open, from a young giraffe sitting comfortably (with an ostrich nonchalantly standing next to it) to herds of zebras and Barbary sheep grazing together, their curved horns and stripes standing out against the dry, brown landscape.

The highlight of the tour was witnessing a cheetah prowling around with a menacing swagger and arched back, with two others following closely. “It is definitely onto something,” our guide says pensively. The tension was palpable in the tour bus as all 25 passengers on the safari bus went silent and were fixated on the cheetah’s next movement. 

It turns out that the cheetah has its eye on an oryx that it spotted in the next enclosure. Thankfully, the fence separates the enclosure, or a gory National Geographic scene might’ve unfolded. 

I also spotted white oryx, which stand out from the dry grasslands with their sharp horns and white skin, and a male Southern white rhinoceros with its massive, shafted horn trailing behind two smaller female ones.

The animals were spotted in a more relaxed state, roaming freely in their enclosures, taking advantage of the vast expanse of space. Oftentimes, they were the only ones in the area for miles.

The tour concluded with a pit stop for light refreshments, including charcuterie and cheeses paired with wines, as I watched the sunset turn the surrounding grasslands to gold. 

The spa

The Marula Day Spa also doesn’t miss out on a slice of safari action with its vitality and cold plunge pools facing the safari plains. The spa, which utilises products from South Australian beauty brand Jurlique, offers a range of treatments, including massages, facials, body rituals, and sauna and relaxation spaces.

I opted for a soothing full-body massage, which featured gentle flowing movements and rhythmic strokes that coaxed me into a light slumber.

Travel tips:

• Join the Sunset or Dawn Safari Tour in the Wild Africa precinct, which is exclusive to resort guests. Unlike viewing animals from platforms in the Monarto Safari Park, these tours enter the enclosures, providing a more unadulterated view of nature.
• The hotel’s great for family stays, with some rooms being interconnected, and the rooms are also spacious. 
• The hotel room’s balcony offers a great vantage point to spot animals without being too far away from comfort.
• Bring a pair of binoculars if you want to spot the animals clearly from your room.