Madikwe Game Reserve

Madikwe was created in the early 1990s, opening in 1994, after a study concluded that game would generate more for the local economy than the marginal cattle farming then on the land. Operation Phoenix followed - one of the largest translocations attempted anywhere, moving around eight thousand animals of dozens of species onto about 75,000 hectares over several years. The reserve is unusual in structure: state land, run in partnership with local communities and private lodge operators, with revenue shared. It is malaria-free, which matters for families, and it has a strong record for African wild dog, an endangered species that does well in the reserve's open bushveld and is one of the main reasons specialists come. Black and white rhino, elephant, lion, buffalo and leopard are all present; the elephants, about 220 in the 1990s, numbered over 1,600 by 2025. There is no self-drive and no day entry: you book a lodge, and drives are guided.

What you'll find

• The wild dogs - one of the better places on the continent to find an endangered predator.
• Operation Phoenix - a reserve stocked by moving some eight thousand animals.
• The malaria-free big five - all five species in a malaria-free area.
• The partnership model - state land run with communities and private operators sharing revenue.

When to go

May to September. Three days. Booked through lodges, which range widely in price.

Before you go

No self-drive and no day visitors - a lodge booking is the only way in. It is a long drive from Johannesburg, near the Botswana border. Wild dog range widely and sightings are luck. Winter mornings on open vehicles are genuinely cold.

Nearby

The Botswana border is adjacent; Pilanesberg is south-east.

Key facts