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Madikwe Safari Lodge

Our rating

8/10

Price guide

Highlights

- Secluded location in Madikwe Game Reserve
- 3 large lodges
- Superb vehicle and walking safaris
- Great for families and large groups

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Overview

Madikwe Safari Lodge offers three top notch, independently run lodges set out amidst the vast, rugged landscapes and open skies of the malaria-free and wildlife-rich Madikwe Game Reserve. Located in a quiet spot in the central-eastern part of the reserve, the lodges are reached via a four hour drive or short flight from Johannesburg and are a great choice for families or groups travelling together. The properties all have a 'home from home' feel, offering warm hospitality alongside welcoming accommodation and superb vehicle safaris and bush walks. There are private pools, a bar and a spa to make use of during down time between safari activities.

While all three lodges have private plunge pools, en-suite bathrooms, indoor and outdoor showers, and wood-burning fireplaces for the colder months, each has its own appeal. Kopano Lodge combines modern design with a traditional homestead feel and houses 4 suites that accommodate up to 8 people aged 16 and over, along with a shared TV lounge. Dithaba Lodge is perched on a hillside overlooking the expansive reserve, and also offers 4 suites and a communal TV area. Lelapa Lodge has a contemporary African feel and welcomes guests of all ages, with a good variety of designated children’s activities and a child-minding service on offer. Lepala has a particularly sociable atmosphere and houses a communal swimming pool and a total of 12 suites, with the two Family Suites incorporating a second children's bedroom with bunk beds and a sleeper couch. Kopano and Lelapa Lodges both offer disabled access, and note that Wi-Fi may only be available in Lepala Lodge.

Activities naturally centre around the incredible wildlife in the area. Early morning and evening vehicle safaris cover significant distances and reveal lion, elephant, giraffe, buffalo, antelope and the endangered Cape hunting dog - sightings of rhino and leopard are not unheard of. Guided bush walks are offered in the early morning or after breakfast and last around 1 1/2 to 2 hours depending on the fitness level of the group - this is a particularly good way to witness the Madikwe Reserve's stunning birdlife. Cultural visits to a local village are also possible, along with private vehicle safaris and a Rhino Conservation experience (both at additional cost).

Children are more than welcome. The best lodge for families is Lepala, although bookings at Kopano and Dithaba can be made for children under 16 if the lodges are booked out exclusively. The Eco-House is an on site educational entertainment centre where children can draw, bake in the kitchen, make pizzas, go dung tracking and learn about the local wildlife. Children's pool games and supervised swimming is offered in the communal Lepala pool. While children under 6 years of age are not permitted on the standard vehicle safaris, special family safaris can be arranged for families with children aged 3 to 5 years which last around one hour. Note that the lodges are all in a wild, rural setting and located on fairly high ground, so children must remain under adult supervision at all times.

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What customers are saying after travelling with Tourdust

Average Rating

based on 513 reviews

(5.00/5)

  • Can't praise tour dust enough, they helped us to create a holiday of a lifetime that has given us family memories we will treasure forever. From start to finish the whole experience was exactly what we wanted and more. Due to covid we waited 2 and a half years for this trip but worth the wait.
    Carly

    MissingCarly R reviewing Value KwaZulu-Natal Safari and Mauritius on 07 November 2022

  • Hi Lisa

    We had an absolutely fantastic time, thank you! My comments here contain just very minor things which could have improved it - please don’t take it as any criticism of the holiday which we absolutely loved, but small tweaks which could have improved it even further!

    Cape Town
    Arrival and transfer were superb - lovely to be met straight off the plane and smoothly transferred straight to the waterfront.
    You should note that Lawhill no longer has a dedicated reception - this caused a couple of issues getting into the accommodation and meeting our guide. Just worth letting people know as nothing which wasn’t overcome with a couple of calls to the complex reception.
    The accommodation itself was ideal for us - spacious, clean and a great base to relax and go out to dinner.
    Our guide from AWOL, Bevan, was first class - really friendly knowledgeable and great with the kids. 10/10!
    The tours were a perfect balance for us of interesting stuff for adults and children
    If I could change anything from our holiday, I’d have had an extra day at leisure in Cape Town, so much to do in the city itself.
    Also worth noting the cable car to Table Mountain seems to be closed during August - just worth noting in advance as we had planned to do that. The aquarium was a good second best though which the kids probably enjoyed more!
    Departure was a pain - our car didn’t turn up at 4.00 as per the schedule which was a pain, particularly that early in the morning. On contacting them, they said it has been booked at 4.45 - an extra 45 mins sleep would have been good - just worth double checking those in future.
    Madikwe
    Transfer to Madikwe was superb again and really easy
    Accommodation was good - I guess this might be because we originally booked a couple of years ago, but the bed for the kids was a bit small for a 9 and 11 year old. Our bed was so big however that Chloe just bunked down with us so no problem at all. Food and service was first class.
    Our safari guide, Pride, was amazing. I’d recommend a private safari to anyone - we were able to be flexible with times and destinations (for example on one day he picked us up a couple of hours early to we could drive much further into the reserve which was rewarded with some cheetahs, another day we went on an all-dayer rather than morning and evening) - mixing things up to see more made a great experience even better.
    Transfer back to Johannesburg was just as easy
    Johannesburg hotel was ok - nothing special but for a transfer hotel it did what we needed!

    Mauritius
    Transfer to and from the resort was seamless
    The resort is lovely - food, accommodation and facilities all great. After such a busy start to the holiday we didn’t really take full advantage of all the water sports but anything we did do was really easy and great fun. Would definitely recommend it to others!
    For a family like ours the drinks package wouldn’t have been good value so pleased we just went full board (having a few drinks during the day and a bottle of wine with dinner our bill came to about £450)
    Just to note a specific plus from the resort: I has some issues with my banking whilst away - the resort waived the fees on my phone call back to the UK to sort it out. Little things like that really make a great impression and reflect so well on the management.

    Thank you again for all your work helping us get there in such difficult times. Great memories of a superb holiday for all the family!

    Best wishes
    Matt

    MissingMatt W reviewing South Africa Madikwe Safari and Mauritius on 31 August 2022

  • Hi Lisa

    I don’t know if you collect feedback but thought it might be useful for you! Happy for you to use any of my comments in testimonials etc.

    We had an utterly amazing holiday and firstly I want to thank you for your patience during what was a very frustrating process for all of us / my procrastination, then covid, date changes, flight cancellations / I can’t quite believe we got there in the end and the trip lived up to all our expectations. Our itinerary felt pretty much perfect so thank you for all the advice and steering in the right direction.

    Thank you also for your flexibility in terms of allowing us to book certain aspects of our trip independently (Cape Town) and then adding flights at a later date. The flexibility to do this and change dates etc was brilliant.

    Originally we intended to self drive, mainly to save cost and then I got nervous about it and we had transfers for the whole trip. Once we were there I was aware that pretty much everyone one was self driving and that the N2 route was actually quite straightforward. In retrospect we could have done self drive however my husband and I both agreed that for us the transfer option was probably best. Although a straightforward route, the N2 is quite a hairy road with lots of trucks and there was a definite etiquette for driving and overtaking. Our son is quite anxious and I think he would have found the driving stressful and so we feel we made the right choice.

    It obviously meant that we were not able to do any self drive safari but this did not matter, I would not have wanted to the advantages of being taken with someone who can spot things we would never have seen, imparting huge amounts of knowledge and having the right vehicles for going off road were worth every penny.

    St Lucia, this was a great place to start our safari, we did a night drive (highly recommend), a day safari up to Cape Vidal and also a boat trip on the estuary. Would recommend all of it. Our accommodation at Lidiko Lodge was comfortable and they do a lovely breakfast on a gorgeous terrace. The rooms are quite dark and although there was nothing wrong with it, it was probably our least favourite accommodation on our trip.

    Ghost Mountain Inn, we arrived here after 4 full on days in Cape Town and then 2 days in St Lucia so were ready for a bit of a rest and it really was lovely. We had lovely rooms, enjoyed the pool, food and did a fantastic trip to visit the local Zulu village and then a morning game drive into Mkhuze park (they have hides here and it was wonderful to watch the animals come to the waterhole to drink) it felt slightly more intimate than watching them from a vehicle.

    Rhino River Lodge, undoubtedly the highlight of the trip. It was a wonderful experience from start to finish. The food was lovely, the level of service was amazing (little touches like hot water bottles on your seat at dinner and hot flannels and an aperitif handed to us as we returned from our evening game drive. It was 3/4 star rather than 5 star and the rooms were quite rustic (very comfy beds) but we really liked that (not 5 star people) and felt very comfortable with the children who were made very welcome and there were food options to suit them (although mostly they ate the adult food but nice to have an alternative, simpler option). The ONLY downside is that you can hear the N2 from the lodge and initially it bothered me a bit but actually it was such a fabulous place it didn’t really matter in the end but maybe something to flag to other clients.

    Fairlight Beach House – I’m glad we only had 1 night here as actually the weather at this point was not great but it was a great place to gather ourselves before the flight home (I would NOT have wanted to go straight from Rhino River to the airport to fly home). Lovely, super comfortable place to stay and we spent the morning watching dolphins and whales breaching less than 100m from the shore line.

    My only regret is that we didn’t make it to Drakensburg Mountains (Rorkes or Fugitives Drift). If I was planning the trip again I probably would just do 2 nights (instead of 3) at Ghost Mountain and add one extra day to give another 2 nights to get to the mountains.

    Thank you Lisa and I really hope that we will have the opportunity to do another 'Big Trip' at some point soon and book through you!

    Josine

    MissingJosine B reviewing Value KZN Bush & Beach Safari For Families on 30 August 2022

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