Madikwe Camp

Set in a malaria-free area in the historic North West province, near the border with Botswana, the 76 000 hectare (187 800 acre) Madikwe Game Reserve supports a diverse combination of bushveld and the semi-arid Kalahari. Madikwe is famed for Operation Phoenix, the world’s largest game translocation exercise. Established almost 20 years ago, the reserve successfully reintroduced more than 8 000 animals of 28 species, including lion, elephant and buffalo, as well as black and white rhino. This area now boasts the Super Seven, adding cheetah and the endangered African wild dog to the already famous Big Five, as well as 350 bird species.

Apart from wildlife, the region also boasts a rich history, ranging from Stone Age relics to the passage of Mzilikazi and a range of European explorers and missionaries. Madikwe is well known for the Mafikeng Road (the main road running through the Reserve), the artery that once linked the trading route from Cape Town to Bulawayo in the early 1800s. The likes of William Cornwallis Harris, David Livingstone and Cecil John Rhodes travelled through here, battling and forming everlasting friendships with the local people, the Tswana-Sotho. The renowned South African author Herman Charles Bosman also spent several months living in what is the present reserve and many of his books celebrate the unique characters and atmosphere of the region.