Madikwe & Pilansberg Game Reserves holidays

The 75,000 hectare Madikwe Game Reserve is just three hours’ drive from Johannesburg, situated on the South African border with Botswana. Created during Africa’s biggest wildlife relocation programme in 1991, the reserve is now home to 66 large mammal species, including the ‘Big Five’ and is one of the best places to see wild dog in South Africa. This malaria-free reserve consists of vast plains of grasslands and open woodlands, which are protected by an enclosed perimeter fence. Day and night game drives or bush walks are guided from all of the private lodges within the reserve. The crater of a long extinct volcano is the setting of Pilanesberg Game Reserve, making this a unique wilderness area, within a ring of mountains, in the Bojanala Region of the North West Province. This unique geological phenomenon has survived years of erosion to stand high above the surrounding bushveld plains and exploring the park offers more than just a glimpse of one, two or (if you are lucky) three of the Big Five. You may find the largest, or the fastest, or one of the most endangered land animals on earth; see Africa’s largest flightless bird, just one of over 300 species of birds in the Park; or discover some of the thousands of plant, insect or reptile species.