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User Reviews of Madikwe Game Reserve (35 Reviews)

Madikwe Safaris Madikwe Game Reserve
Sort By: Date Most Helpful Rating 31-35 of 35 Reviews

Average User Rating

4.6857 / 5 4.7 /5
4.7429 / 5 4.4286 / 5 4.6000 / 5 4.1739 / 5

Rating Breakdown

5 star 26 / 5 26
4 star 7 / 5 7
3 star 2 / 5 2
2 star 0 / 5 0
1 star 0 / 5 0
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Female avatar icon Amanda Detmer United States flag US       Visited: May 2019 Reviewed: May 29, 2019

Email Amanda Detmer  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

5 / 5 5 /5
5 / 5 5 / 5 5 / 5 5 / 5

We had an incredible time! Madikwe is the perfect place to go to see a lot of animals in a peaceful manner. It’s not overcrowded; you only see a few other game cars while on the drives which is nice because it may only be you and the animals at times. We saw at least 10 different animals and even group of female lions eating on a zebra! Everyone at Madikwe is incredibly friendly with lots of knowledge on the reserve, it’s history, and the animals. We stayed at the Bush Lodge, and it was an incredible experience. I strongly recommend staying with the Bush family. They are very warm welcoming and professional. The weather in the month of May was great; chilly in the mornings and evenings, but it was bearable with a jacket and pants. Middays were perfect! We had a great time at Madikwe through SafariWithUs bookings.

Female avatar icon Melanie Hong Kong flag HK       Visited: February 2023 Reviewed: Feb 20, 2023

Email Melanie  |  65+ years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

5 / 5 5 /5
5 / 5 5 / 5 4 / 5 4 / 5

We loved Madikwe and all it represents. Our wild dog sighting, watching the dogs keep a hyena from their zebra kill, was a special experience.

Male avatar icon Luca Italy flag 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

3 / 5 3 /5
3 / 5 4 / 5 3 / 5 4 / 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.

Female avatar icon Kirsty Australia flag AU       Visited: September 2023 Reviewed: Sep 26, 2023

Email Kirsty  |  50-65 years of age  |  Experience level: over 5 safaris

5 / 5 5 /5
5 / 5 5 / 5 5 / 5 5 / 5

Madikwe is a game reserve that really does have it all. I have now been there 3 times, have stayed in 3 different lodges and had a different experience each time. Highly recommend.

Female avatar icon Julie United States flag US       Visited: May 2024 Reviewed: May 16, 2024

Email Julie  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

Magical experience with the best staff

5 / 5 5 /5
5 / 5 5 / 5 5 / 5 5 / 5

I can’t say enough positive things about this place. From the beautiful game drives to the fantastic service and the food . We did not want to leave . An experience we’ll never forget !