​User Reviews – Madikwe GR

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kanigma Visited: January 2008 Reviewed: Aug 7, 2012

Overall rating
4/5

We managed to see the big 5 over a couple days, we had a wonderful time on safari.

massarma   –  
Italy IT
Visited: December 2011 Reviewed: Mar 22, 2012

35-50 years of age

A great safari experience in a malaria free zone
Overall rating
4/5

Madikwe is a great destination for wildlife observation with a number of excellent and comfortable lodges. The wildlife is very impressive especially for large mammals. Lions, rhinos (both white and black) , giraffes, wild dogs, buffalos, elephants are relatively easy to see and you have the time to observe their behavior. The park is pretty large and you do not have the feeling of being in a 'large zoo', on the contrary; this despite the fact that the Game reserve is fenced. The part which is missing is a large river and the related wildlife such as hippos and crocodiles. We have seen and had the time to follow two wild dogs packs and two male lions roaring just in front of us (really unforgettable). The park is not accessible with your own car and that makes the experience really much better even if a bit more expensive. No traffic at all and very little chance of queuing to see wildlife.
Accommodation at Rhulani was very comfortable and they have a large pond where we had the opportunity to see rhinos, wild dogs , zebra, elephants and more when in the evening they came for drinking.
Scenery is the typical SA bush so do not expect large trees or a thick forest, it is not the landscape everybody loves.
Guides are friendly, helpful and very technical.
Final remark: it is a malaria free area and you do not need to worry about it or about yellow fever.
On balance the reserve I would recommend in South Africa.

Luca   –  
Italy IT
Visited: August 2023 Reviewed: Aug 21, 2023

Email Luca  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: over 5 safaris

The review below is the personal opinion of Luca and not that of SafariBookings.
Good, not great
Overall rating
3/5

We visited Madikwe in August 2023, with probably too high expectations given the length of our stay (5 nights) at Rhulani (very good lodge with great staff) and the reputation of the reserve.

We ended up quite disappointed on the predator side, since both leopard and cheetah eluded us and we did not even see spotted hyenas.
We were also expecting good wild dog sightings, but we just caught little more than a glimpse of a running pack after sunset.

However, we had various good lion sightings and we did manage to see a brown hyena.

Regarding other game, plenty of elephants, zebra, wildebeest, steenbok and impala. Very good white rhino sightings, briefly saw a black rhino in the dense bush. Some giraffes and a klipspringer.
No trace whatsoever of rarer antelopes like eland, gemsbok, tsessebe or red hartebeest.


Overall, a good reserve but we felt the variety of game was far from impressive compared to Kruger or Okavango.

Nature lover   –  
South Africa ZA
Visited: December 2010 Reviewed: Apr 29, 2012

50-65 years of age

The review below is the personal opinion of Nature lover and not that of SafariBookings.
Overall rating
3/5

Nice destination if you are visiting Johannesburg on business and want a quick safari experience - somewhat limited in variety of game.

Average User Rating

  • 4.7/5
  • Wildlife
  • Scenery
  • Bush Vibe
  • Birding

Rating Breakdown

  • 5 star 25
  • 4 star 7
  • 3 star 2
  • 2 star 0
  • 1 star 0
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