Madikwe Game Reserve North West Province Lodge Reviews
Skillful
Mark Eveleigh – Visited: September
Mark is a travel writer who grew up in Africa and has written over 700 titles for CNN Traveller, Travel Africa, BBC Wildlife and others.
xi people found this review helpful.
Fantastic rhino and leopard sightings at marvellous Madikwe
I only stopped over briefly at Madikwe en-road from Jo'burg to Republic of botswana and did non really have immensely high expectations for sightings on what would be our first day in the bush. All the same, we set off on the game bulldoze the adjacent morning and almost immediately I spotted rhino spoor. Seems that this is nigh a guarantee at Madikwe and nosotros spent some fourth dimension watching the rhinos grazing effectually a waterhole. On the manner back we had several other good sightings but the unforgettable highlight (especially for my father who had never seen wild leopard before) was surely our sighting of a female leopard and her boyish cub high on a rock kopje in a higher place us. Not bad for day 1 before breakfast!
Good
Philip Briggs – Visited: December
Philip is an acclaimed travel writer and author of many guidebooks, including the Bradt guides to Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and South Africa.
10 people found this review helpful.
Malaria-complimentary Big Five viewing
Set up in the far north of Northwest Province, the 750 sq km Madikwe is a provincially managed entity, but it operates much similar a very larger private reserve, being closed to solar day visitors and dotted with luxury lodges offering all-inclusive guided safaris. Rather underpublicised, it is rapidly growing on popularity thanks to its location in a malaria-free are non too far from Johannesburg. Game viewing is really very good. If information technology is the Big Five you are after, panthera leo, elephant, white rhino and buffalo are likely to be seen, and while leopards are less common, this is compensated for by the opportunity to run across the localised likes of cheetah, African wild domestic dog and brown hyena. Other wild animals includes giraffe, zebra, greater kudu, springbok, carmine hartebeest and tsessebe. Scenically, the rocky hills associated with the rugged Rant van Tweedepoort escarpment dominate the westward, but the due east if flatter and less pretty. It is also a good place for birders to seek out localised 'Kalahari specials' such every bit pied babbler (referred to by rangers as the flight snowball!), violet-eared waxbill and crimson-breasted shrike.
Skilful
Emma Gregg – Visited: October
Emma is an award-winning travel author for Rough Guides, National Geographic Traveller, Travel Africa magazine and The Independent.
nine people establish this review helpful.
Large Five safaris with wide-reaching benefits
Much is fabricated of the fact that there'due south practically no risk of communicable malaria in Madikwe, a Big 5 reserve just due south of Gaborone. While this gives Madikwe a useful advantage over Kruger National Park and the northeastern reserves, for me it's just one of many practiced reasons to visit.
There'southward inspiration all around: the scenery includes some dramatic escarpments, the wooded savannahs are great for watching elephants, lions and, with luck, wild dogs (the reserve was painstakingly stocked in the 1990s) and there are some fantabulous, ethically designed and managed lodges. It's not possible to drop in for the twenty-four hours – you have to stay overnight – but this is no hardship, since the lodges provide a fantastic safari experience for a good deal less money than the places in the luxury safari chugalug. My favourites are Jaci'southward and Madikwe Safari Lodge, comfy, organically-designed lodges where you feel close to the wilderness.
I rather like the fact that Madikwe is relatively little visited, despite being so attainable. It has an appealing, borderland experience. But what I like about about the reserve is the fact that the local community benefits direct from tourism and plays a very active office in conservation.
Skilful
Brian Jackman – Visited: Dry out flavor
Brian is an laurels winning travel writer, author of safari books and regular contributor to magazines such as BBC Wildlife and Travel Africa.
viii people found this review helpful.
The Born Once more wilderness
Back in the 1980s Madikwe was nothing but a vast stretch of clapped-out cattle country lying up against the Botswana border. Then it was found that wildlife-based tourism would generate twenty times more than revenue than ranching, and then in 1991 it became a game park the size of the Isle of Wight. The first step was to band-fence it. The 2nd was to stock it with wildlife, and Operation Phoenix, every bit it was called, brought in x,000 animals of 28 species, including elephant, rhino, buffalo, king of beasts, wild dog, giraffe, zebra and numerous antelopes – the world'south biggest-e'er game translocation practise. Other animals, including leopard, were already there, and then that Madikwe is a genuine big-five destination, and it is i of only two places in Africa where I have seen a caracal.
Today there is nothing to remind you lot of Madikwe'southward ranching past. Instead what yous run into are red globe trails winding into the distance betwixt thorny thickets of acacia and combretum, and its waist-high expanses of bleached blond grassland and rolling blue hills give the reserve a sense of enormous sense of space and freedom. And of course what has also additional Madikwe's popularity is the fact that it is malaria-gratis.
Adept
Christopher Clark – Visited: October
Christopher is a British travel writer and has contributed to diverse Fodor's guidebooks and a range of travel magazines.
7 people found this review helpful.
Elephants, wild dogs and leopards at luxurious Madikwe
This popular private reserve on the border of the Kalahari is domicile to more than 10,000 animals, including all of the Large v. In particular, Madikwe has developed a reputation as the best place in South Africa to see wild dogs.
On my final visit, I was lucky enough to run across a new litter of wild canis familiaris pups playing around their den, while a rather tired looking adult, who had manifestly drawn the brusque straw and been assigned babysitting duty, looked on disinterestedly.
Madikwe is as well gaining a reputation as a leopard hotspot, with sightings near guaranteed these days, and it has an increasingly staggering number of elephants as well.
There is an fantabulous range of meridian notch luxury lodges here, and they won't set up you back every bit much as some of Sabi Sands' finest. My personal favourite is the colourful Jaci's Tree Guild. It is a particular treat for wildlife photographers, with a unique semi-submerged photographic hibernate that pops upwardly in the middle of a waterhole, and country of the art dual camera mounts and gimbals on the lodge's safari vehicles.
Expert
Stephen Cunliffe – Visited: Multiple times
Stephen is a travel writer and avid conservationist whose piece of work appears in prestigious magazines such every bit Africa Geographic and Travel Africa.
5 people found this review helpful.
A Private Park without a Soul
Just reading the championship of this review y'all could probably already tell that I'm non their biggest fan! I really like the concept of converting unproductive farmland into a viable conservation area and in this regard Madikwe has been a huge success. However, the park was only established in the xc'due south and it feels as well new and raw to have developed a genuine wilderness feel. To call information technology soulless might exist too harsh, but I feel that despite the rehabilitated farmland having been stocked with a various range of indigenous wildlife (and plenty of lodges too), it lacks a true wilderness vibe and I don't get that feeling of being in real African bush when I'm up there. Bordering Botswana, the topography of the expanse is interesting with large volcanic Inselbergs, wide-open up plains and a riverine environment along the Marico River. But, I like (and would recommend) this reserve for 1 main reason: it has the big attraction of beingness malaria-free, making it a keen choice for families with pocket-size children or significant woman who even so want to get on safari.
Skilful
James Bainbridge – Visited: December
James is a travel author and writer of many Lonely Planet guides, including senior author of the guide to South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland.
iii people constitute this review helpful.
Luxury in the Bush
To see the Big V and feel the wilderness in luxury, there'southward nowhere quite similar Madikwe. Conveniently located between Sunday City and the Botswana border, sectional lodges scatter the reserve'southward 760 sq km of bushveld. Safaris here are conducted by rangers with radios; if one spots a predator at the waterhole, they notify the other groups. A commendable queuing system, in which a few vehicles view an animal while the residue await their turn, avoids the logjams seen at popular parks.
The 5-star lodges are expensive, simply well worth it if this is your only opportunity to experience an African safari. Most operate on an spread-out basis, offering a twenty-four hours or two of dawn and sunset wildlife drives and dinner under the stars. I spent a wonderful nighttime at the eco-guild Mosetlha Bush Camp, which is more basic and earthy than the other lodges, only highly atmospheric. Paraffin lamps light the unfenced army camp'south open up-fronted cabins, and the bush-league is so enthralling that you barely find the lack of electricity and running water.
Practiced
Ariadne van Zandbergen – Visited: December
Ariadne is a renowned African wildlife photographer whose work is featured in many well-known guidebooks and magazines.
3 people found this review helpful.
Madikwe Game Reserve, an culling option to Sabi Sands
Madikwe Game Reserve is the best park in the North West Province. 4 of the big 5 are quite easily seen, just leopards are every bit elusive equally they tend to be in most places. Wild canis familiaris sightings are quite common in the park and I was lucky to see them chasing an impala unsuccessfully. I also managed to accept a afar view of a brownish hyena. Madikwe is i of the few places where in that location are regular sightings of this very shy nocturnal predator. Accommodation is only available at individual safari lodges, which include open up vehicle game drives in the packet and there are no day visitors immune in the park. Off-route driving is allowed and the experience is close to what you arrive some of the very popular private reserves in Sabi Sands and elsewhere. Game viewing is more striking and miss, but there are few vehicles on the ground and if you're lucky, yous might be able to accept a practiced predator sighting all to yourself.
Skilful
Christopher Clark – Visited: Oct
Christopher is a British travel writer and has contributed to various Fodor'south guidebooks and a range of travel magazines.
ii people constitute this review helpful.
Elephants, wild dogs and leopards at luxurious Madikwe
This popular private reserve on the edge of the Kalahari is dwelling house to more than ten,000 animals, including all of the Big v. In particular, Madikwe has adult a reputation equally the best place in South Africa to meet wild dogs.
On my last visit, I was lucky enough to see a new litter of wild canis familiaris pups playing around their den, while a rather tired looking adult, who had obviously drawn the brusque straw and been assigned babysitting duty, looked on disinterestedly.
Madikwe is also gaining a reputation as a leopard hotspot, with sightings near guaranteed these days, and information technology has an increasingly staggering number of elephants too.
In that location is an fantabulous range of top notch luxury lodges here, and they won't fix you dorsum as much equally some of Sabi Sands' finest. My personal favourite is the colourful Jaci's Tree Social club. Information technology is a particular treat for wildlife photographers, with a unique semi-submerged photographic hibernate that pops upward in the center of a waterhole, and state of the art dual photographic camera mounts and gimbals on the lodge'southward safari vehicles.
Skilful
Anthony Ham – Visited: November-December
Anthony is a lensman and author for travel magazines and Alone Planet, including the guides to Kenya and Botswana & Namibia.
one person found this review helpful.
Madikwe: An Exclusive Big-Five Safari
Hard upward against the Botswana border, Madikwe Game Reserve is one of South Africa's almost rewarding safari experiences. In wildlife terms, the Large Five are relatively easy to run into – I saw rhino, buffalo and elephant all drinking from the same waterhole at the aforementioned time on 1 wonderful belatedly afternoon. Lions are plentiful, there'due south a reliable pack of African wild dogs, and there'southward also a small merely growing population of cheetah, as well equally springbok, klipspringer, giraffe, zebra and other iconic southern African savannah species. More than 350 bird species, too, add to the appeal, while the scenery is besides rather special, with a fine mix of habitats – bushveld, afar red-walled mountains, parched desert plains – that plow magical at dusk. But to a higher place all, Madikwe is an exclusive park; to visit here, yous must have a confirmed reservation at one of the reserve's fabled lodges.
Practiced
Heather Richardson – Visited: Multiple times
Heather is a British travel / conservation journalist, and has written for publications and broadcasters such equally the BBC, Departures, the Telegraph and the Lord's day Times.
Malaria-free, Big 5 safari
Madikwe is a malaria-free reserve about five hours' drive from Johannesburg. I've had incredible rhino viewing here – both white and black varieties. The rest of the Big Five is present, too. Leopards are hitting and miss – I've seen one, just patently that was lucky. Wild dogs used to be seen fairly frequently, but on my terminal visit – September 2019 – the resident packs had been hit past rabies. They were hoping to innovate more, though. Madikwe has a lot of good lodge options of mid- to high-range. There are telegraph wires running through the park and at night you tin meet Gaborone lit up beyond the Botswanan border, and then it'southward non exactly remote – but it's not unattractive, with greenish hills and orangish dusty roads making for photogenic backdrops.
Expert
Sue Watt – Visited: March
Sue is an award-winning writer who specializes in African travel and conservation. She writes for national newspapers, magazines, Rough Guides and Lonely Planet.
All thank you to Functioning Phoenix…
It'south foreign to think Madikwe Game Reserve was one time an expanse of degraded cattle ranches. In the
early 1990s, Madikwe became one of the world'due south greatest conservation successes when information technology was
transformed into a wildlife reserve. Cheers to Operation Phoenix, over 8,000 wild animals were
introduced, converting the reserve into a thriving Big Five destination.
It'due south malaria-free so not bad for families with young children. You have to stay overnight here – there
are no solar day visitors allowed – and I stayed at the Majestic Madikwe Lodge with a waterhole easily visible
from my room. I couldn't quite believe rhino and elephant were drinking at that place together. There's
plenty of wildlife elsewhere likewise – we saw giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, hyena, cheetah and impala
among other species. Of the Large V, lion, buffalo and elephant were easy to meet. A great spot for
elephant is Tlou Dam where we watched over a hundred taking it in turns to gyre in the mud. Just I
hadn't expected to meet quite and so many rhino. They seemed to be everywhere, and completely
unbothered by our presence, which in a way was a downside for me – information technology didn't experience a particularly wild
place.
Source: https://www.safaribookings.com/madikwe/expert-reviews
0 Response to "Madikwe Game Reserve North West Province Lodge Reviews"
Post a Comment