The drive out of Johannesburg to Madikwe is pretty simple. A few hours on wide highways until somewhere past Zeerust, the landscape starts to change. And without quite realising it, you’ve left the familiar behind.
Upon arrival, there’s no grand gate with queues of vehicles and no stream of day visitors. In fact, there are no day visitors at all. You can only enter if you’re staying at one of the lodges inside the reserve. It’s a detail that changes everything.
Madikwe is home to the Big Five, along with cheetahs, hyenas, and over 300 bird species, but with strict controls around the numbers of vehicles at sightings, it’s the type of place that feels like it’s exclusively yours.
A Place That Shouldn’t Exist, But Does
Madikwe is often described as one of South Africa’s greatest conservation success stories, built on a model of high-value, low-volume tourism.
In the early 1990s, this land was farmland. Degraded, overgrazed, struggling, somewhat forgotten and far from anything on the edge of the South Africa and Botswana border.
Then came a rewilding project that saw more than 8,000 animals reintroduced into the reserve over six years, one of the largest wildlife translocations ever undertaken.
Today, it’s a fully functioning ecosystem again. But it’s a place built not just for wildlife. The entire premise of the reserve focuses on a community-driven conservation model, where local people are directly involved in and benefit from tourism. Today, you feel that difference.
Our guide had worked in Madikwe for some 20 years plus, while 90% of the staff we met had grown up, lived, and never left the villages on the park’s outskirts. But it was also evident that coming to work every day here was about more than a livelihood.
The staff here deeply cares about the landscape and its inhabitants. It gives a sense of purpose to your safari that goes beyond just seeing animals or ticking off the big five.
Where to Stay in Madikwe
If Madikwe is totally underrated, then Royal Madikwe feels like its quiet extension. At Royal Madikwe, the bush feels both vast and intimately yours. The lodge, with its expansive private villas, blends understated luxury with a deeply personal safari rhythm.
We were lucky enough to stay in the Royal Villa with our two young girls, enjoying a safari experience that catered to all ages.
The two-bedroom exclusive-use retreat was designed with families in mind. It has its own kitchen, a fully stocked mini-bar fridge, a wine cellar, a second-story lounge, a heated plunge pool and our own private team that took care of every detail.
Days flowed effortlessly between private game drives and long, lazy afternoons by the pool. It offered space, privacy, and the rare freedom to experience the bush entirely on our own terms.
Why Madikwe Works So Well for Families
Photo by Janine Avery
If you’re travelling to Africa, especially with children, two of the biggest barriers to safari are keeping the kids entertained and malaria. Madikwe removes the latter concern entirely. It’s completely malaria-free, which means no preventative medication, no worrying about side effects and a much easier holiday when travelling with little ones.
Plus, a place like Royal Madikwe has child minders to entertain the kids between drives and surprises at every turn, such as complimentary bug collection kits, personalised sightings books, and a myriad of crafts.
But the appeal goes deeper than that. Unlike some safari destinations that feel rigid and set in strict schedules, Madikwe is surprisingly flexible.
Lodges like Royal Madikwe work on a basis that includes private vehicles, exclusive villas and those kid-focused activities. It isn’t about simply tolerating children on safari but really including them.
Here, the kids’ programme isn’t a bolted-on afterthought; it’s built on an understanding that not every game drive needs to be five hours long.
That drives can be paused to cast footprints of animals in the mud, or that it’s even ok to skip a drive for a swim. That sometimes the best moment of the day is spent in the pool watching the elephants enjoy their own swim in the waterhole nearby.
Conversations can be enjoyed around a lazy lunch on the deck or a coffee in the dark, watching a lightning storm on a far-off horizon.
You can enjoy naps you didn’t plan, sundowners in the middle of nowhere, and dinner around a roaring fire. It’s the simple things in life that feel extraordinary in Africa, and a safari without the pressure to maximize every sighting.
That said, the sightings were still pretty spectacular.
The Wildlife of Madikwe
What struck me about wildlife viewing in Madikwe Game Reserve wasn’t just what we saw, but how we saw it. Sightings never felt rushed or crowded. At one point, we spent close to an hour watching a pack of wild dogs interacting, resting, then suddenly bursting into motion.
Wild dogs were actually one of our main reasons for visiting this area, as it’s somewhat famous for sightings of them. And if you’ve never been on a safari, you’ll know that seeing these skittish, fast-moving packs of painted hounds is rare.
Endangered and ever-elusive, they provide the kind of sighting you could chase your entire life (my husband, being in his 40s and a born-and-bred South African, had yet to tick them off his list). We will forever be grateful to our guide for getting us in the right place at the right time.
We also enjoyed fantastic sightings of other predators: two male lions padding slowly up the road, a coalition of five cheetah brothers playing together and a hyena on the prowl at sunset.
What made Madikwe special was that these types of epic sightings were consistent without ever feeling predictable. And with plenty of buffalo, rhino, zebra, giraffe, elephants, and various antelope species peppered in between, we saw more than expected.
And some of the most memorable sightings happened without leaving the lodge at all. Elephants at the waterhole, klipspringers greeting our arrival and a scorpion after dark.
Ultimately, Madikwe has everything international travelers are looking for: incredible wildlife, luxury lodges, easy access, and a malaria-free environment. And yet, it remains largely under the radar.
If you didn’t know it existed before, you’re not alone. But once you’ve been, it’s very hard to forget.
Getting to Madikwe (it’s easier than you think)
For international travellers embarking on their first safari to South Africa, Madikwe sounds remote. It isn’t. From Pretoria, it’s easily reached in just over three hours by car or a short charter flight directly into the reserve.
There’s no need for multiple internal flights, no complicated logistics. That accessibility is part of what makes it so appealing. You can land in Johannesburg in the morning and be on a game drive that afternoon.
If You Go
Where to stay: Royal Madikwe Luxury Safari Lodge is a five-star, all-inclusive lodge set around a private waterhole, with accommodation ranging from luxury suites to the exclusive-use Royal Villa — a two-bedroom retreat designed for families, with its own kitchen, plunge pool, and dedicated private team.
Travel insurance: Safari travel warrants solid coverage. SafetyWing and SquareMouth are both good options for comparing and booking trip protection plans.
Stay connected: Pick up a South Africa eSIM through Airalo before you leave home and skip the roaming fees entirely.
What to pack: Layers are essential. Mornings on game drives can be cold, afternoons hot, and evenings cool again. Most lodges, including Royal Madikwe, include laundry, so pack light.
Need a hand planning your trip? Here are the sites and services we rely on most, from booking tools to travel products we love.
Inspire your next adventure with our articles below:
- South Africa’s Addo Elephant National Park Is the Ultimate Family Safari
- The Best of Kenya: Safari Magic and Coastal Paradise
Author Bio: Janine Avery was born and bred in Cape Town, South Africa, and says there is nowhere she would rather call home. She is a lover of all things nature and loves to explore new places, enjoying any form of travel from basic tenting to lazing in luxury lodges. She also loves to dabble in digital marketing, spread messages on social media, and take audiences on a journey through her travel stories.
Want to discover more hidden gems and helpful travel tips? Join our free newsletter for the latest travel secrets and travel articles.
We are reader-supported and may earn a commission on purchases made through links in this article.
