Madikwe Game Reserve, Madikwe & Sun City, South Africa

The malaria free Madikwe Game Reserve is one of the largest and finest game reserves in South Africa and offers several luxury game lodges. Madikwe began in 1991 with Operation Phoenix, one of the most ambitious and successful restocking programme that Africa has ever seen with over 10,000 animals reintroduced, all indigenous to the Madikwe area. The 75,000 hectare game reserve now boasts a healthy wildlife population including plenty of the Big Five (elephant, lion, leopard, rhino and buffalo) as well as over 360 recorded bird species. You can also expect to see its packs of wild dog, for which Madikwe Game Reserve is particularly known, which are regularly sighted. Given its open terrain, Madikwe has plenty of cheetah and extensive plains game including sable, gemsbok, springbok and giraffe. Alongside the Eastern Cape game lodges, its malaria free status means that several Madikwe game lodges offer child-friendly family safaris with some game lodges offering children’s game drives.

There are plenty of game lodges to choose from in Madikwe, from some of the most luxurious in the country, to family friendly lodges, to more rustic bush camps. Some of the lodges are offered as Safari Houses on an exclusive use basis which is ideal for a group of friends travelling together or a larger family party. At Cedarberg we have visited most of the Madikwe game lodges and can expertly advise you, from our own first-hand experience, which safari is right for you.

• Malaria free Big Five game reserve
• Fourth largest reserve in South Africa
• Excellent Wild dog sightings
• Wide variety of game lodges to choose from
• Children safari programmes such as identifying spore, frog hunts, kid’s game drives

How to get to Madikwe
The Madikwe game reserve is approx 3½ to 4 hours drive north-west of Johannesburg depending which game lodge you choose. It’s in a remote area of South Africa though Sun City lies en route about 2 hours south of Madikwe. Given the distances many of our clients choose a fly-in safari to Madikwe instead ( with a one hour charter flight departing Johannesburg in the late morning and returning around noon.) A little known fact is that you can also combine a Madikwe safari with the Okavango Delta as it is only a 1½-2 hour road transfer across the border to Gaberone Airport with its direct flights to Maun, the gateway to the Okavango Delta.

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