History

The land that comprises current day Madikwe Game Reserve was home to various tribes for thousands of years and eventually inhabited by the white South African Boers, who used it for cattle farming during the 1800s and 1900s. Most of these farms fell into disuse and were abandoned when, in 1991, the government decided that the land would be best used as a wildlife reserve.

Operation Phoenix was created as a joint venture between the North West Parks Board, private enterprise, and local communities to create the reserve. The primary purpose of the reserve was to create sustainable tourism and provide jobs for the local people living in this remote area.

Fences were erected to enclose the land and over 10 000 once-indigenous animals comprising 28 large mammal species were relocated into the new reserve. The operation took over seven years to complete, with wildlife flown or driven in from other reserves in southern Africa, including an entire elephant herd from Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe.

Experience

Madikwe is one of South Africa's best and most exclusive safari destinations, with up-scale lodges, plentiful wildlife and exceptionally good game viewing.

Unlike Kruger National Park and Pilanesberg Game Reserve, Madikwe is not open to the general public and independent self-drive safaris are not permitted. Only guests staying at (or booking a day-package from) one of the safari lodges inside the reserve can go on safari here, so vehicle traffic is generally low.

The safari camps and lodges in Madikwe are mostly high-end and not for the budget-minded. They all offer full-board accommodation with chef-prepared meals, twice-daily game drives in open 4x4 vehicles, expert guiding, and a well-managed, reserve-wide system for minimizing vehicles at wildlife sightings.

Some of the lodges also offer private homes which accommodate groups or large families in a fully catered and private safari experience. Overall, the guest experience in Madikwe is similar in most respects to that of the exclusive private reserves bordering the Kruger National Park.

Wildlife in the reserve is abundant and diverse, with all the major predators, including lion, leopard, cheetah, spotted hyena, and jackal. Madikwe is well known for being one of the best places on the continent to see the endangered African wild dog. Crocodile are present in the river and some of the waterholes.

Herbivores are also well represented with zebra, giraffe, wildebeest, both black and white rhino, elephant, buffalo, greater kudu, sable antelope, red hartebeest, waterbuck, warthog, hippo and more. Birding is excellent, with a species list topping 350.

Madikwe is malaria-free and within driving distance of Johannesburg and Pretoria, so it is one of the most popular reserves in the country for locals and international visitors alike.