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Kimberly
US
Visited:
March 2016
Reviewed: Apr 5, 2016
Email Kimberly | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Beautiful place, lovely people, not quite the game experience of East Africa
We loved our trip to Madikwe. Having been to Kenya and Tanzania, South Africa felt "tamer." We saw tons of wildlife, but not to the amazing levels seen in East Africa. I think that South Africa is a great choice for safari beginners, those who don't want to do malaria precautions. The wildlife is certainly in Madikwe, but it takes more patience.
gorneval
FR
Visited:
October 2015
Reviewed: Nov 15, 2015
Email gorneval | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing wildlife and beautiful stay
From the dawn to the dusk, it is always possible and easy to see wildlife. Everyday something happens, everyday is a new day in the bush. The great thing of madikwe is that rangers and land rover could go "off road" to approach wildlife ! So great for pictures and feel bush vibes !
Didier Collas
FR
Visited:
December 2009
Reviewed: Sep 12, 2015
Email Didier Collas | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Fantastic moment
We spent 4 days in Madikwe, staying at Tau Game Lodge. The safaris were fantastic, with a lot of wild life (all the expected ones except the wild dogs). Tau Lodge is also very nice with its pond in front of the rooms where the animals were coming all day long to drink and play (elephants - a lot, lions, girafes, ....)
U. Adophis
ZA
Visited:
April 2015
Reviewed: Apr 29, 2015
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Great safari, nice (and closer) alternative to Krugar
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at Bush House. Our friend stayed at Tau Lodge and had more success at the waterhole -- that is a much larger lodge though, and you lose the exclusivity. Bush House was a lot less posh and extravagant, but the waterhole was very busy (60+ elephants?) and the food and accommodation posed no problems. Also good to check if children can come on drives, as we had 2 incessantly talking kids on our last day who didn't, but could very easily, have affected game viewing. Our guides in both places were very experienced -- the main thing is you need to be watching for animals too, as it increases your chances! On our first drive at Bush house our ranger went off tracking to find a lion. So we sat there with 5 other cars for an hour till they came back, then we drove off and for the next hour none of the rangers could find the ranger who had stayed behind near the lion kill!! Our guide than said "oh, it's getting late, we probably should go now" to which I gave a significant death stare. Thankfully she then found the lions, but at no point had she explained what we were looking for or anything. In this case we were lucky, but I think it's worth being clear with your ranger how much time you are prepared to spend waiting for them to track. We could have wasted 2 hours out of one precious drive, which to them doesn't mean much, but I think they forget how much we pay and how far we come to see animals which cannot be seen by sitting in a non-moving car. We explained this to her that night and from then on everything was fine, but if you haven't done as many game drives as we have, you might not be so confident to voice such opinions.
John A Darwin NT Australia
Visited:
August 2014
Reviewed: Apr 16, 2015
Thouroughly Enjoyable
Stayed at The Bush House for 2 nights and did 4 3 hour safari drives and managed to see most of what we were hoping to see. Missed out on seeing Cheetahs, Leopards and Wild Dogs, although given the size of the park there is no guarantee you will see everything. The Bush House was fantastic and I have no hesitation recommending it. Our guide Tom was OK but have heard JR is the best. August mornings are chilly but the days are beautiful. Safari Bookings were great with all pick ups and bookings done without a hitch.
kanigma
Visited:
January 2008
Reviewed: Aug 7, 2012
We managed to see the big 5 over a couple days, we had a wonderful time on safari.
massarma
IT
Visited:
December 2011
Reviewed: Mar 22, 2012
35-50 years of age
A great safari experience in a malaria free zone
Accommodation at Rhulani was very comfortable and they have a large pond where we
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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.
