Wild heart of Monarto
It may feel like an African safari in Australia, but an overnight stay at Monarto Safari Resort means a lot more. It’s helping save endangered animals one visit at a time.
WORDS Catherine Best
Sunset at South Australia’s Monarto Safari Resort takes its cues from the African savannah. Giraffes cast long shadows across the plains, zebras prance at a waterhole and statuesque eland stand tall, their long horns silhouetted in the twilight. Wine glasses ‘clink’ and appetisers are served, but no one can take their eyes off the animals. Guests know they are set for a memorable overnight stay.
Opened in May 2025, Monarto Safari Resort offers a rare kind of escape. From the privacy of their suite, guests can enjoy an African safari experience, just an hour from Adelaide (Tarntanya). The resort sits next to Monarto Safari Park on Ngarrindjeri Country, in the heart of South Australia’s Murraylands region. Monarto Safari Resort comprises of 78 guest rooms, Kutjera Restaurant & Bar, Marula Day Spa and two pools which overlook Wild Africa, a new 550-hectare precinct home to the world’s fastest big cat (cheetah), as well as rhinos, hippos, giraffes and various other African animals. A luxury safari lodge is also set to open in early 2026, adding to what is already a one-of-a-kind escape.
While Monarto Safari Park welcomes day visitors to explore its expansive open-range habitats, Wild Africa is open only to those staying at Monarto Safari Resort. “Guests have a unique experience where they’re able to see the animals directly from the resort. Imagine giraffes strolling past at breakfast, antelopes silhouetted in the sunset from the spa or zebras grazing outside their suite,” says the resort’s Sales and Marketing Director, Imogen Rivers.
“They get to see them when everything else is quiet. No crowds, background noise. It’s just them and the animals. It’s pretty special.”
“It is literally like being on an African safari.”
– Steve Callery
A STAY WITH PURPOSE
While the resort and the park are operated separately – the former operated by Journey Beyond, the latter run by conservation charity Zoos South Australia (Zoos SA) – they share a unified goal: to connect people with nature, and to support species conservation through meaningful experiences.
Part of each resort stay booking goes directly to Zoos SA’s Conservation Fund, supporting species protection and habitat restoration in South Australia and beyond. Last financial year, Zoos SA spent more than $1.3 million on conservation and research projects in Australia and worldwide.
Zoos SA Conservation Manager Mark Smith says Monarto Safari Resort will directly support the organisation’s critical work. This work is more important than ever, with a record 185 plant and animal species added to the Australian threatened species list in the past two years (2023 & 2024). Mark hopes the resort’s proceeds will enhance Zoos SA’s capacity to contribute to and undertake local, national and global species conservation. This includes in-situ and ex-situ species protection and preservation, as well as research, planning and land management activities, and delivering vital education programs. Monarto Safari Park is home to more than 50 species of native and exotic animals, with seven in 10 under threat of extinction in the wild.
GLOBAL IMPACT
Zoos SA is contributing to the global fight against extinction through on-site breeding programs, maintaining ‘insurance’ populations and through conservation, education, research, and habitat restoration projects both locally and abroad. The Conservation Fund supports 10 conservation projects in Australia and 12 overseas, including efforts to save chimpanzees in Sierra Leone, red pandas in Nepal and cheetahs in Africa, as well as funding organisations fighting wildlife poaching and trafficking.
While money matters, Mark says Zoos SA also advances its mission by connecting people with wildlife:
“A really important part of conservation is advocacy and engagement with the public to increase their awareness of challenges facing biodiversity, both regionally and internationally.
“Having people stay at the resort, and really immersing themselves in that environment and having meaningful experiences with the animals, is invaluable in setting an agenda. It makes a lasting impression on people to take more care and make more informed decisions about what they do day-to-day, and also become advocates for conservation and preservation of biodiversity.”
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
During their stay, resort guests can book a Dawn or Sunset Safari Experience to see the animals in the Wild Africa precinct when they are at their most active. Guests cruise the plains in a guided 26-seat accessible Safari Truck, stopping at an enclosed ‘sundowner’ site to enjoy a breakfast brew or a twilight tipple while learning about the animals roaming around them.
“It is literally like being on [an African] safari,” says Zoos SA General Manager of Visitor Operations, Steve Callery. “You never quite know where the animals are going to be, so it’s that journey of discovery as they’re making their way across the property and looking for those animals.”
Steve says that because Monarto Safari Park is the largest open-range safari park in the world outside Africa, the animals have ample space to roam freely. In keeping with Monarto’s animal-welfare-first ethos, the animals are free to herd and engage in natural behaviours as they would in the wild. Resort guests who purchase a discounted ticket to Monarto Safari Park can also opt to purchase up-close animal encounters like feeding a giraffe, walking among lemurs or viewing the kings of the jungle in the Lions 360 Dome. These experiences are run by Zoos SA, with all proceeds supporting wildlife conservation.
“People just get blown away, we’ve actually had people in tears after some of the experiences because it’s fulfilled a lifelong ambition. Just the fact that they’ve made that connection during that experience, it gets them quite emotional,” Steve says.
Some overnight guests opt to simply enjoy the wildlife from their room, and that’s okay too. The resort is a calming sanctuary with interiors designed to reflect the surrounding landscape. Local bluestone and granite, along with an ochre colour palette, keep the spaces earthy yet refined, while drawing the eye to the wildlife grazing outside the windows. Animal vistas can be enjoyed from the waterhole-facing rooms and suites, from Kutjera Restaurant & Bar (named after a local bush tomato) and even from the sauna within Marula Day Spa.
When it’s time to check out, some guests have a hard time letting go. How does one return to a bedroom in the ’burbs after a night on the savannah? Picking up a sustainably sourced memento from the park gift shop helps some guests stay connected to the experience. And proceeds from the purchase support conservation efforts, such as the Zambian Carnivore Program. It’s a meaningful keepsake from a night sleeping downwind of where rhinos snore.
“They get to see them when everything else is quiet. No crowds, background noise. It’s just them and the animals. It’s pretty special.”
– Imogen Rivers
The Details
Monarto Safari Resort is Australia’s newest and most exciting safari experience, located within one of the world’s largest open-range wildlife parks, just an hour from Adelaide. Book a Waterhole room or suite and enjoy balcony views overlooking the Wild Africa precinct. Interconnecting and accessible rooms are also available. Elevate your stay with a Dawn Wildlife Safari or Sunset Wildlife Safari, or simply enjoy gazing at the giraffes from the resort pool. Visit monartosafariresort.com.