North West SA
Thakadu River Camp
Built in 2006 this luxurious lodge sits between the Marico River and its smaller tributary in the wildlife rich Madikwe Private Game Reserve close to the Botswana border. The lodge can accommodate 24 guests in 12 luxury tents. The main lodge building has an attractive open plan lounge and dining room made with beautiful natural wood. There is also an outdoor terrace with small swimming pool and sun loungers.
The tents are modelled on the classic African safari tent and have comfortable twin or king size beds, private attached bathroom with both indoor shower and bathtub. There is air-conditioning, telephone, digital safety deposit box and 220-volt electricity supply for charging of equipment, hair dryer and a private terrace with seats overlooking the river.
The Madikwe Game Reserve is one of the largest private game reserves in Africa and is an excellent location for the observation of large mammals. Many species have been reintroduced including a thriving population of African wild dog and cheetah: this is also one of the best reserves to see the big five. The area also benefits from being malaria free so suitable for families with young children (there are nine family-friendly camps within Madikwe to choose from, including Thakadu).
The Madikwe Game Reserve is about a three and a half hour drive from Johannesburg, or alternatively it can be accessed on a one-hour flight.
Facilities
Private bathrooms, restaurant, lounge, bar, swimming pool, laundry service, air conditioning, ceiling fans, safety deposit box,
Local Wildlife
The Madikwe Game Reserve is home to the big five, (lion, leopard, elephant, black rhino and buffalo) but also white rhino, hippopotamus, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, impala, kudu, klipspringer, bushbuck and has the largest population of nyala in southern Africa. The reserve is one of the best places in Africa to see African wild dog, of which there are 3 packs in the park, and cheetah, spotted hyena, jackals and aardvarks are also occasionally seen.
Optional Activities
Game drives, bush walks and specialist bird walks are all available.
Alan Godwin
Area Specialist
Thakadu is one of the many different camps available in Madikwe, a fabulous private game reserve which is malaria-free so suitable for families with young children.
If you have any questions regarding our South Africa tours, please feel free to contact me on +44 (0)1803 866965
We have just received the feedback form from you for our recent trip to South Africa which I will fill out shortly but I also wanted to thank you personally for organising us such a fantastic trip. The sheer variety of scenery and activities was amazing and the accommodation was uniformly excellent. We enjoyed good weather for our first few days in Cape Town allowing us get the best from Table Mountain as well as travel down to the Cape of Good Hope. A storm front did give a couple of wet days but this had little impact on our wine tasting in Franschhoek. In Hermanus we were fortunate to spot an early southern right whale as well as a humpback. We absolutely loved Montusi mountain lodge – what a view! We were also glad we visited the battlefields and the drive to Fugitive’s Drift lodge was quite enjoyable although I will never complain about potholes in the UK again. The suites at Tanda Tula were amazing and well beyond anything we have previously experienced on safari. The wildlife viewing for mammals was excellent with great sightings of lions and rhino in particular. Once again, many thanks and it’s now time for us to start our diet as we ate and drank rather too well.
