Meet Mariska
The person behind Rupping Bush Retreats. The voice you will hear from the moment you enquire to the morning you leave.
A city professional
with a quiet pull toward the bush
Mariska Rupping lives in the city and runs a professional career there. She also runs Rupping Bush Retreats — a private self-catering lodge inside Shona Langa Nature Estate, a 2,000-hectare malaria-free wildlife estate two and a half hours from Johannesburg. The two lives sit comfortably side by side.
Like many of the guests who stay at Shona, she knows what it is to want the bush from a city desk. That longing — for quiet, for distance, for the kind of week-end that does not feel like work — is the reason Rupping Bush Retreats exists at all.
Why I built
Rupping Bush Retreats
I have always been drawn to the bush. The space, the silence, the way time changes its shape once you leave the tar road behind. It is something my family and I sought out whenever life allowed it.
What we found, more often than not, was that the places we loved most were either too big — hotel-style resorts with a hundred other guests — or so remote and expensive that they became a special occasion rather than a way to live.
Shona was meant to fill the gap in between. Somewhere small, private and entirely yours for the duration of your stay. Somewhere within reach of a Friday afternoon drive from the city. Somewhere you could come back to again, without the trip itself becoming the holiday.
What I bring to
your stay
I am hands-on. Every enquiry, every booking, every welcome message comes from me — not a reservations team or a third-party platform. If something is unclear, you can ask. If you need a recommendation for the area, I will give you the same honest answer I would give a friend.
This is also why I have kept Rupping Bush Retreats deliberately small. With only one lodge currently — and a second on the way — I can stay close to every guest experience without it becoming a system or a script.
You will likely never meet me in person at Shona — the lodge is yours alone, exactly as it should be — but you will know I am one WhatsApp message away from the moment you arrive to the morning you leave. You can also read what I have written about life at Shona if you want a fuller sense of what to expect.
Owner-hosted. Always personal. Always direct.
No booking agents, no commissions, no scripts. Every conversation about your stay at Shona is with Mariska — the person who owns the lodge and is invested in the stay being good. It is a quieter way to do hospitality, and a more honest one.
From first message to last morning
A guide to how things actually work when you stay at Shona.
The enquiry
WhatsApp Mariska directly with your dates and group size. She will reply with availability, the rate for your stay, and any questions she may have. There is no booking form, no waiting on third-party confirmations, no fees.
Before you arrive
You will receive practical directions, a welcome message, and any pre-stay information you might need — local shops to stop at, what is already at the lodge, what is worth bringing. Everything is shared by WhatsApp so it stays close to hand.
During your stay
The lodge is yours. Mariska is one message away if you need anything, but she will not interrupt unless asked. The wood-fired hot tub, the boma, the game viewer, the kitchen — all of it, on your time.
Ready to talk dates?
Send Mariska a message on WhatsApp. She will reply personally, usually within a few hours, and you will know within a day whether your weekend at Shona is on.