Water babies
The rebirth of Morukuru River House and Owner’s House, following a flood in Madikwe Game Reserve early this year, is a colour-first testimony to the strength of bold South African design.
Picture it. The tail-end of an outdoor dinner on a hilltop overlooking the moonlit plains of south eastern Madikwe Game Reserve. The exclusive use, villa-style Morukuru River House and Owner’s House on the banks of the Marico River, out of sight in the darkness below. Sudden rustling in the nearby bushes, mere metres from the camp fire, causes both staff and guest consternation, myself included. Surely not? Wild animals, several arm lengths away? Guide and manager of Morukuru River House, Jacques Grobler, cautiously waves dimmed torchlight across the dry foliage, after some sweeps safely arriving at the conclusion that two brazen hyenas are keen on dessert. Whether that’s ours – or us – isn’t clear. Their forms barely detectable in the shadows, they linger before sauntering off, giggling.
The next morning, I ask Grobler about the flood that ruined the interiors of both houses early in 2025. Three months of extreme rainfall resulted in the overflow of the Molatedi Dam, which in turn caused the Marico River to rise by as much as ten metres in as little as half a day, flooding the property. “Since it wasn’t a flash flood, animals had a chance to move away, so there was little to no loss of animal life,” recalls Grobler, perhaps thinking of our flood-surviving, hungry hyenas. “I remember all form of insects crawling up the walls of the building as the water levels rose, trying to escape.” Months later, the houses restored, redesigned and relaunched, there’s thankfully no sign of these creepy crawlies when Grobler points out the level to which the waters rose indoors. Well above head height, sufficient to ruin the interiors of the adjacent riverside properties.
The showstopper redesign of the interiors – colourful and utterly contemporary – is the work of Hinterland Studio’s founder Amy Kidger. She spent almost a decade working for Michele Throssell Interiors (no stranger to safari design herself), before relocating to Cape Town in 2020 where she worked at ARRCC for two years. Kidger first collaborated with the Dutch owners of the Morukuru property collection shortly after founding her studio. Appreciative of both her strong eye and love of the bush, it was to her they turned following the flood. “I always had a passion for the bush growing up. We used to go to Kruger Park on holidays once a year and I loved it. So, it was a natural progression for me to get into safari design,” she says.
Kidger visited the villas shortly after the flood. “The houses looked like a war zone. Everything was covered in mud, including the stone walls, with mattresses upturned against them. I couldn’t see the floors through the thick layer of silt. It was quite astonishing to see the power of water.” Of her brief, she continues, “I was tasked with a redesign that would lighten the spaces. Surrounded by trees on the river bank, and roofed in thatch, River House’s rooms can feel dark, and it was this that led me to introduce bright colour.”
Colours abound, with a spectrum of saturated tones including singed mustards, charred ochres, burnt oranges and leafy greens, all closely inspired by Madikwe’s plains. Kidger’s design refutes notions that safari style need stick to a colonially-inspired, khaki-and-brown palette. “I wanted to step away from a colonial feel and focus instead on context. Greens and browns aside, people don’t often notice colour in game reserves. But there are so many pops of colour, like in the birds and flowers.”
Colour here is impossible to ignore, with an almost tone-for-tone matching of hues indoors with that outdoors. The rusty tone of Mark Alexander fabric on a sofa and armchairs in River House’s living room, repeated above in Ashanti Design’s handwoven pendants, evokes the powdery red earth that I washed from the soles of my shoes after game drives. The tinkling shards of green glass in a Stephen Picus-designed chandelier, shaped like the snaking river beyond, draw tonal variations from the leaves of the tamboti trees that surround the property.
In the bedrooms, pale biscuit tones of an Elitis wallpaper lining the exterior of the cupboards reference the wind-swept grasses come the end of the dry season. Rectangular mosquito nets are dramatic, their hand-dyed ochre tones in an ombre effect echoing those of the curtains in the en suites. “Ombre feels comforting and homely to me. You don’t want to overwhelm a space, so it’s a way of drawing colour through without resorting to solids,” Kidger explains. Watching sunlight play on the diaphanous bathroom curtains, I can’t help but think how the flood has perhaps subconsciously informed Kidger’s use of ombre; her interpretation of rising water levels leaving their mark.
South African designers are well represented, and the extent to which bespoke pieces decorate both houses is impressive. Myriad greens found along the banks of the river are championed in tiled sideboards custom-made by Ken Leiman Furniture, as well as in Ashanti Design’s woven lamps – multi-coloured lily pads, as Kidger refers to them – in the spa. Pendants by Arkivio and MashT Design Studio are suspended above bathtubs, while Egg Design’s statement-making Boogie Nights Coffee Table, like so many other pieces, echoes the colours of Madikwe’s terrain. Saturated paintings by Solomon Omogboye and bespoke photographs by Leana Clunies-Ross decorate walls.
Whether they be in bespoke pieces, or others sourced from local brands including La Grange Interiors and Herringbone Rugs, colour and texture unite for a layered décor palette. The result is sophisticated and fresh, and translates into a truly luxurious environment in which to unwind and from which to enjoy the abundant wildlife of Madikwe Game Reserve.
My conversation with Kidger includes discussion about the challenges she faces when designing for safari hospitality. Somehow this leads to talk of shameless hyenas. “I can’t upholster outdoor furniture with leather because hyenas will eat it – they’ll even run off with the cushions!” she says, referring to an incident at a prior project. “Somewhere there’s a hyena roaming around with a beautiful Sunbrella cushion of mine!” Lucky hyena, I say.
Martin Jacobs was a guest of Morukuru River House. The three-bedroomed property (sleeping six guests, with additional accommodation for four children) and the two-bedroomed Morukuru Owner’s House (sleeping four), are adjacent exclusive-use villas. Each includes private game drives, all meals and beverages (some alcohol at a surcharge), a private guide, tracker, chef, host and butler.
Federal Airlines offers daily shuttle flights (approximately an hour each) from O.R. Tambo International Airport to Madikwe Game Reserve. Guests of Federal Airlines have access to their private lounge, which includes complimentary refreshments and light snacks. www.fedair.com
