Big Five country on the Botswana border — and completely malaria free.
View our lodgesOne of the last strongholds of Africa's most endangered large carnivore.
View our lodgesNo malaria tablets, no long-haul flight, no compromise on the game.
View our lodgesThe largest game translocation ever attempted turned farmland back into wilderness.
View our lodgesMorning and evening drives with guides who have worked this reserve for years.
View our lodgesAccommodation
Twenty-four lodges inside one malaria-free reserve — from bush camps to exclusive-use villas.
★★★★★ star
A five star lodge on a prime site in the west of the malaria free Madikwe Game Reserve, straddling the Tweedepoort…
from R5,290 per person sharing per night, all meals and two daily game drives, incl. 15% VAT
View lodge Enquire★★★★★ star
Embraced by pristine bushveld, Etali Safari Lodge rises to meet you — an ultra luxury lodge of open, light-filled…
★★★★★ star
Impodimo Game Lodge features a magnificent pool which looks over an active water hole, with family suites and a raised…
★★★★★ star
Your bushveld home-away-from-home. Jan and Jaci's House is available for exclusive-use bookings, with its own guide…
★★★★★ star
Jaci's Safari Lodge masterfully blends into its surroundings, encompassing a magnificent main area built around an…
★★★★★ star
Jamala Madikwe reflects a classic sense of style that is sufficiently robust to match the savage beauty of the reserve…
★★★★★ star
At the edge of the Marico River, you will find yourself enchanted by majestic beauty — suites set among granite…
★★★ star
Madikwe River Lodge offers exclusive accommodation in sixteen secluded split-level thatched chalets on the banks of the…
★★★★★ star
Exceptional field rangers; intimate accommodation with sweeping views over the game-filled plains. Three separate…
★★★★ star
Experience the drama and mystery of Africa's vast natural history at Makanyane — eight glass-fronted suites in riverine…
★★★★★ star
Designed for the discerning traveller, Mateya offers a graceful fusion of relaxed comfort and considered luxury across…
★★★★★ star
Arguably South Africa's most luxurious game lodge — five individually designed suites on a hillside, available…
★★★★★ star
Morukuru Farm House is taken on exclusive use, with five bedrooms, its own guide, vehicle, chef and host, and a…
★★★★★ star
The original Morukuru house, taken on exclusive use by one party at a time, with its own guide, vehicle, chef and host.
★★★★★ star
Morukuru River House sits on the banks of the Marico River and is taken on exclusive use, with four suites and a…
Mosetlha Bush Camp is deliberately simple — no electricity, bucket showers, paraffin lamps and open wooden cabins. The…
★★★★★ star
Motswiri is a small owner-run lodge of five suites in the north of the reserve, welcoming families and offering…
★★★★★ star
Rhulani — "relax" in Shangaan — is a small luxury lodge of nine chalets facing a busy waterhole in the west of the…
★★★★★ star
RockFig Safari Lodge is an intimate lodge that can be taken on exclusive use, well suited to families and small groups…
★★★★★ star
Tau Game Lodge looks straight onto a floodlit waterhole, with thirty chalets, a spa and full conference facilities —…
Tuningi Safari Lodge stands under giant fig trees in the west of the reserve, with colonial-styled suites, a family…
from R13,700 Adding an additional child to Family Suite will be subject to availability based on occupancy (please contact Reservatio
View lodge EnquireMadikwe Game Reserve lies in the far north of South Africa's North West Province, hard against the Botswana border — around 350 km, or four hours on good roads, from Johannesburg and Pretoria. At roughly 75 000 hectares it is one of the largest game reserves in the country, and it is entirely malaria free.
Madikwe is one of very few reserves in the world proclaimed purely on the grounds that conservation was the most appropriate and sustainable use of the land. It is run as a joint venture between the State, the private sector and the local communities, several of whom own lodges inside the reserve — a model that has since been copied across South Africa.
The reserve carries 66 large mammal species, including the Big Five plus cheetah and wild dog — the Super Seven — and around 300 resident and migrant bird species. There are no day visitors and no self-drive game viewing: guests stay at one of the reserve's lodges and go out with its own guides, which keeps the number of vehicles at a sighting low.
Adventures
Twice-daily guided drives in open vehicles — early morning and late afternoon into the dark — with your…
Find out more →Walking with an armed guide, at the pace of tracks, dung and birdsong rather than the pace of a vehicle.
Find out more →Madikwe is one of the best places in Africa to find African wild dog, alongside lion, leopard, cheetah and…
Find out more →Short, tactile "bumble" or "jungle" drives for children aged five and under, pitched at their age and their…
Find out more →Around 300 resident and migrant species across bushveld, riverine forest and the Marico River.
Find out more →Little light pollution, a wide horizon and guides who know the southern sky.
Find out more →Plan your trip
Winter for game viewing, summer for birds and lower rates. Month by month.
Read the guide →75 000 hectares on the Botswana border, malaria free, and closed to day visitors.
Read the guide →Around four hours from Johannesburg by road, or a short charter flight. Routes, airports and transfers.
Directions →Current conservation fees and seasonal gate times, updated when the park changes them.
Check the rates →Valley of Waves, two championship golf courses and the Palace, 33 km away.
Read more →Malaria, children, self-drive, what to pack, and what a safari actually costs.
Read the FAQ →Tell us your dates and we will come back with availability and the best rates across every lodge.
