Last Word Madikwe

Last Word Madikwe sits inside Madikwe Game Reserve at Wonderboom Gate, a malaria-free Big Five reserve in the North West Province. The lodge holds six classic suites and one private three-bedroom villa — nine rooms in total. The suites are built into the main house, each roughly forty-five square metres, with a private patio, separate bath and shower, air conditioning, and a minibar. The private villa sleeps four adults and two children and comes with its own dedicated game vehicle, private dining, and a lounge area.

The lodge is set around a garden that runs down to a waterhole a few metres from the lawn. Elephant, lion, buffalo, white and black rhino, leopard, and wild dog use it regularly, which means you can watch game from a chair in the garden without leaving the property. For closer and lower viewing, the lodge has an underground hide that opens directly onto the waterhole and is accessible around the clock.

Twice-daily game drives cover Madikwe's open terrain; the reserve is also well regarded for cheetah and wild dog, and birdlife is consistently good. Children of all ages are welcome; children under six do not join the main game drives, but the lodge can arrange a shorter drive suited to them.

Madikwe is roughly four hours by road from OR Tambo Airport in Johannesburg, two hours from Gaborone depending on the border crossing, and about forty-five minutes by charter flight from OR Tambo on the reserve's western airstrip.