At 750km², Madikwe Game Reserve is one of the largest game reserves in South Africa. Only four hours by road from Johannesburg and Pretoria with Botswana on its northern border, this rugged wilderness teems with game and birds.

Not only will you find the Big Five here – lion, leopard, buffalo, elephant and rhino – but also the cheetah, the fastest animal on earth, plus the highly endangered African wild dog or “painted wolf”. So you have every chance of seeing the “Magnificent Seven”, plus a multitude of plains game. And if it’s birds you’re looking for, well, we have more than 475 species.

Because Mosetlha sits plumb in the middle of this huge reserve, the game viewing is exceptional.

This is also due to our award-winning guides, who take you out twice a day (for 4 hour long drives) in an open safari vehicle. Born and bred in the area, they know where to look for that pack of wild dogs, that pride of lions, that herd of elephants, that hyena den, spotted eagle owls, or bee-eaters on the wing.

But sometimes it’s the unexpected sighting that thrills. There’s the dung beetle busily rolling his ball of dung along with his wife perched perilously on its sides, or here’s a newborn impala tottering unsteadily beside its mother.

Look out for tiny baby elephants on their knees slurping water from a dam (they can’t use their trunks fully until they’re a year old) as the rest of the herd play, jump and immerse themselves.

In camp, watch for the gorgeous crimson-breasted shrike or diminutive blue waxbill. See if you can find an elusive chameleon, which the guides will sometimes catch in the spotlights at night.

Mosetlha is unfenced, save for the high strands of electric wire encircling the camp to keep the elephants out. Lions, buffalo, wild dogs and more have been known to come in and drink at the tiny birdbath.

And remember our added bonus: Madikwe is malaria free.