If you have young children or you don’t wish, or cannot, take anti-malaria medication, South Africa is unique in offering a number of malaria-free Game Reserves. It used to be that you had a make a trade-off between the quality of the game-viewing and the absence of malaria, but this is increasingly not the case as all three of our featured regions, Madikwe Game Reserve, the Waterberg and the Eastern Cape private game reserves offer the Big Five (elephant, lion, buffalo, rhino and leopard) as well as plenty of general game. What is fair to say is that the Eastern Cape, the Pilanesberg and the Waterberg are more accessible than the traditional safari areas. This means reduced travelling time, especially important for families, but the greater accessibility can also translate into less of a ‘African safari’ feel. However this is not the case with Madikwe Private Game reserve which lies in the far North-West of South Africa. All of these area have witnessed a heart-warming return to wildlife conservation with a number of farms restored to natural bushveld, and the largest restocking of wildlife that Africa has ever seen.

The Pilanesberg game reserve, the Waterberg and Madikwe game reserve lie to the north of Johannesburg and Pretoria where wide open plains of bushveld stretch all the way to the Limpopo river. Rising out of these plains are the ancient volcano ridge of the Pilanesberg (1½ to 2 hours drive from Johannesburg) and the dramatic natural beauty of the Waterberg (2½ to 3 hours drive) and beyond to the north that lies Madikwe Game Reserve. The Eastern Cape game reserves are around 1 hours drive from Port Elizabeth and about 3 hours drive from the Garden Route so that many clients add on an Eastern Cape safari to a Garden Route holiday.

Madikwe Game Reserve
The malaria-free Madikwe is now one of the prime game reserves of South Africa. It began in 1991 with Operation Phoenix, one of the most ambitious and successful restocking programme that Africa has ever seen with over 10 000 animals reintroduced, all indigenous to the area. The 75 000 hectare private reserve now boasts a healthy wildlife population including plenty of the Big Five as well as over 360 recorded bird species. You can also expect to see its packs of wild dog which are regularly sighted as well as Black and White rhino and extensive plains game, including sable, gemsbok, springbok and giraffe. Alongside the Eastern Cape game lodges, Madikwe is at the forefront of offering child-friendly safari experiences with some lodges offering children’s game drives and children’s rangers. We have visited several of the game lodges and feature the best of those on our website.

Madikwe lies only 3½ to 4 hours from Johannesburg and 2 hours north of Sun City. Given the distances many clients choose to fly by scheduled charter flight (1¼ hour flight departing Johannesburg in the late morning), or break their journey in Sun City or the Magaliesberg. You can also combine a Madikwe safari with the Okavango Delta as it is only a 1½ to 2 hour transfer to Gaberone Airport which has a direct flight to Maun.

Positives
· Probably the most consistent game-viewing of the malaria-free game reserves
· Excellent wild dog sightings
· Classic African open bushveld terrain – you really feel like you’re on safari
· Can transfer easily to Gaberone for a direct flight to Maun (Okavango Delta)

Negatives
· It’s a long time from anywhere so you may choose to fly by charter which is expensive for a family
· You cannot easily combine it with another activity except for Sun City

Recommendations
Jacis
Tuningi
Madikwe Safari Lodge

Waterberg
The Waterberg, only 2½ to 3 hours drive from Johannesburg, is a stunning area of natural beauty, a dramatic forested plateau dissected by ravines and waterfalls with panoramic views over the plains below. The area is home to several malaria-free private game lodges offering Big Five game viewing and luxurious accommodation. There are also some Safari Houses - game lodges which are booked by one family or group of friends. Horse-riding, for both beginners and experienced riders are a particular speciality of the region.

Positives
· Close to Johannesburg so easy for self-drive or road transfers and good for shorter 2 night stays
· Very beautiful

Negatives
· May not feel wild enough for some visitors
· Game-viewing is not as certain as in Madikwe or some Eastern Cape reserves

Recommendations
Entabeni
Marakele
Makweti

Eastern Cape

The Eastern Cape is one of the prim malaria-free wildlife areas in South Africa. The original Addo Elephant National Park with its private concessions has been joined by several private malaria-free game reserves.

The Addo Park offers excellent elephant sightings. This is partly due to the unique Addo bushveld - the dominant plant is the pink flowered Spekboom, which is a favourite food of the elephants. Alongside the thrill of close-up elephant encounters, it is now home to black rhino, lion, hippo, unique Cape buffalo, many species of antelope, not forgetting the endangered flightless dung beetle!

Being a National Park, visitors are free to enjoy game-viewing on a self-drive basis but a number of the lodges nearby also offer open 4×4 game drives into Addo in the morning or afternoon. There are several private concessions within the park as well such as Gorah Elephant Camp, Riverbend Game Lodge and Nguni River Lodge.

The Eastern Cape is also home to several malaria-free private game reserves. These include Shamwari, Kwandwe, Amakhala, Lalibela and Kariega game reserves. Thousands of hectares have been returned to natural bushveld that supports predators as well as abundant plains species. Most of these lie between 45 minutes and 1½ hours from Port Elizabeth and offer an intimate and informative experience. You enjoy game drives in open-vehicle game drives with an experienced ranger who can give you a deeper understanding of the wildlife and the natural cycles of the bush. Drives are in the early morning and late afternoon when game is most likely to be active.

Positives
· Adjacent to the Garden Route so that you don’t have to fly to get to your safari destination
· Very attractive countryside
· Many lodges to choose from, some with excellent kid’s safari programmes

Negatives
· Most lodges are accessible and so you don’t get an overwhelming sense of being in the wilds of ‘Africa’
· Can be very cold in the winter months (June to early August)
· You need to pick your lodge carefully as game-viewing varies between the various private game reserves of the Eastern Cape.

Recommendations

Kwandwe
Blaauwbosch
Riverbend
Lalibela

 

For more Information & Travel ideas visit our main website at http://cedarberg-travel.com/

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