Mateya Safari Lodge

Lodge Highlights

• Five suites, ten guests — the most exclusive lodge in Madikwe
• African wild dog, cheetah and Big Five sightings
• An 8,000-bottle wine cellar
• Maximum four guests per game-viewing vehicle
• Private infinity pools, decks and shaded salas at every suite
• Marble bathrooms with twin indoor and twin outdoor showers
• Malaria-free — no prophylactics, no evening cover-up

General Lodge Information

• Lodge type; Safari Lodge
• Location; Madikwe Game Reserve, North West Province, South Africa
• Lodge size; 5 Luxury Suites (maximum 10 guests)
• Recommended stay; 2-5 nights
• Minimum age; 9 years on standard bookings; all ages welcome on exclusive sole-use bookings
• Children on activities; Game drives from age 5, or younger on exclusive bookings or with a private vehicle arranged; walking safaris strictly 16 and over
• Malaria risk; None — Madikwe Game Reserve is malaria-free
• Getting there; Approximately 320 km from Johannesburg, a four-and-a-half-hour drive or 60 minutes via scheduled light-aircraft shuttle from OR Tambo

Mateya Safari Lodge, Madikwe — Five Suites, Ten Guests and the Most Private Luxury Safari in the Reserve

Mateya Safari Lodge is the most exclusive lodge in Madikwe Game Reserve: five suites, a maximum of ten guests in residence, and never more than four people on a game-viewing vehicle. It is built into a rocky outcrop of the Gabbro Hills with the Dwarsberg Mountain range on the horizon, high enough that the view across the malaria-free Madikwe runs uninterrupted to the Marico Valley in the east.

Madikwe Game Reserve is malaria-free — no tablets, no long sleeves at sundown, and no reason to leave anyone at home. That matters more than most brochures let on, and it is the reason this corner of the North West Province competes so well against the Lowveld.

Walk through the ancient Zanzibar elephant doors and you are standing in an art gallery that happens to run game drives. Sculpture, hanging work, original pieces in every suite — so much of it, and so good, that we forgot about the wildlife for a considerable while. That is not a sentence we write often.

Mateya Safari Lodge is for the traveller who wants exclusivity, absolute privacy and the highest standard of personal attention, and who does not want to share the sighting with three other vehicles. A five-star property in the Madikwe that we at Uyaphi.com recommend without hesitation.

We have stayed at Mateya. See our photographs and honest impressions in the Mateya Safari Lodge photo gallery, and read the full Mateya Safari Lodge review.

Rooms and Suites

Mateya Safari Lodge has five air-conditioned luxury suites sleeping a maximum of ten guests, each one individually designed and set well apart from its neighbours in a radial arrangement around the hill. Every suite has an en-suite bathroom, an outdoor shower, a private infinity pool and its own deck.

The bathrooms are the talking point: marble, a huge freestanding tub, two indoor showers and two outdoor showers. The private pools look out over the Madikwe plains, with a wooden deck and a shaded sala that is the right place to sit with a book and let the afternoon go.

The result is complete solitude on demand. You can spend an entire midday without seeing another guest, listening to nothing but doves, cicadas and whatever is moving down at the waterhole.

Cuisine and Wine

Mateya Safari Lodge serves dinner at the Fire Core, an open dining venue built around a central fire, with wines drawn from a cellar of 8,000 bottles — one of the largest at any lodge in South Africa. Chefs cook to the table rather than to a buffet.

An indoor dining room, an outdoor dining deck and a traditional boma are all in use depending on weather and mood, and with only ten guests in camp the kitchen can accommodate almost any dietary requirement given notice.

Lodge Facilities

Mateya Safari Lodge has a bush boardroom, Wi-Fi and email facilities in the business centre, a curio shop, a gym and a health spa. The scale suits small private groups and family buyouts rather than conferences.

Guests spread out across the lounge, the raised outdoor patios and the African awareness library, which holds an excellent collection of African literature alongside the art. It is a lodge that rewards staying in as much as going out.

Wildlife Activities

Mateya Safari Lodge runs game drives in custom-built 4x4 vehicles and guided bush walks with the lodge's field guides and trackers, capped at four guests per vehicle so that everyone has a clear seat and a clear shot. Every outing is planned around what you personally want to see.

Madikwe Game Reserve delivers the Big Five — elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo and rhino — plus cheetah and one of South Africa's most reliable populations of African wild dog, together known locally as the Super Seven. Over 250 bird species are recorded in the reserve, so pack binoculars.

• Morning and late-afternoon game drives in open custom-built 4x4 vehicles
• Guided walking safaris and dedicated birding outings
• Four guests per vehicle maximum, ensuring full realisation of the sightings you came for
• Big Five, cheetah and African wild dog in a single malaria-free reserve

Spa and Wellness

Mateya Safari Lodge has an in-house spa with a full-time resident therapist offering a full range of body treatments, and a small but properly equipped gym beside it. Booking a treatment for the dead hours between the morning drive and high tea is the correct use of a Madikwe afternoon.

FAQ

Where is Mateya Safari Lodge and how do you get there?

Mateya Safari Lodge sits in the Gabbro Hills of Madikwe Game Reserve, in South Africa's North West Province on the Botswana border. It is approximately 320 km from Johannesburg, a four-and-a-half-hour drive. A scheduled light-aircraft shuttle from OR Tambo International reaches Madikwe Eastern Airstrip in about one hour, and the lodge transfer from the airstrip takes ten minutes.

Is Mateya Safari Lodge malaria-free?

Yes. Mateya Safari Lodge is in Madikwe Game Reserve, which is a malaria-free area. No anti-malarial prophylactics are required for a stay at Mateya, and there is no need to cover up at dusk on that account. This makes Madikwe one of the few reserves in South Africa where the Big Five can be seen without any malaria precautions at all.

How many suites does Mateya Safari Lodge have?

Mateya Safari Lodge has five luxury suites and accommodates a maximum of ten guests. Each suite is individually designed and air-conditioned, with an en-suite marble bathroom, twin indoor and twin outdoor showers, a private infinity plunge pool, a wooden deck and a shaded sala. The suites are set well apart around the hillside for privacy.

Can children stay at Mateya Safari Lodge?

Children aged 9 and over may stay at Mateya Safari Lodge on a standard booking. Children of any age are welcome when the whole lodge is taken on an exclusive sole-use basis — five suites, ten guests. Game drives are open to children from age 5, or younger on an exclusive booking or with a private vehicle arranged. Walking safaris are restricted to guests aged 16 and over.

What wildlife can you see at Mateya Safari Lodge?

Mateya Safari Lodge guests see the Big Five — elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo and rhino — in Madikwe Game Reserve, along with cheetah and African wild dog, collectively the Madikwe Super Seven. Madikwe holds one of South Africa's strongest wild dog populations. Over 250 bird species are recorded in the reserve, and game drives carry a maximum of four guests per vehicle.

What is included in the rate at Mateya Safari Lodge?

Rates at Mateya Safari Lodge include accommodation, all meals, teas and coffees, local beverages, laundry, twice-daily game drives and guided bush walks, the reserve gate entrance fee, and the transfer from Madikwe Eastern Airstrip. Spa treatments, premium and imported wines, cigars, telephone calls, curio purchases, road transfers and the daily conservation levy are charged separately.

When is the best time to visit Mateya Safari Lodge?

The best game viewing at Mateya Safari Lodge is from May to September, when Madikwe's winter dry season thins the bush, water is scarce and animals concentrate at waterholes. Mornings are cold, so pack layers. November to March brings green landscapes, newborn game, migrant birds and hot afternoons above 35°C. Madikwe is malaria-free year-round, so no season carries a health penalty.

Why Mateya Safari Lodge Is Worth the Splurge

Mateya Safari Lodge is the lodge we suggest when a client says the word "privacy" and means it. Five suites, ten guests, four people to a vehicle, and an art collection that would hold its own in a city gallery — all inside a reserve where the Big Five, cheetah and wild dog roam and nobody needs to swallow a malaria tablet. It suits honeymooners who want no one else at breakfast, photographers who need the clear side of the vehicle, families booking the whole lodge, and anyone stitching a Madikwe leg onto Cape Town or the Winelands. Two to five nights is the sweet spot: enough to get the wild dogs, and enough afternoons in that plunge pool to feel the city leave you.

Getting there is easy — a four-and-a-half-hour drive from Johannesburg, or an hour in a light aircraft and a ten-minute transfer. Choose May to September for the sharpest game viewing, or the green months from November for newborns and birds. Uyaphi.com has been building African safaris since 1999, twenty-seven years of it, and we have walked through those Zanzibar doors ourselves. Tell us your dates, who is travelling and what you want the trip to feel like, and we will put Mateya at the centre of an itinerary built around you — with no booking fees and no card surcharges.