Motswiri Safari Lodge

Lodge And Activity Highlights

• Five luxury bush suites and a three-bedroom family villa
• Private wrap-around wooden decks with bushveld views
• Wildlife and birdlife at the lodge waterhole
• Outdoor showers in every suite
• Cuisine and a serious South African wine list
• Rim-flow swimming pool above the waterhole
• Family-friendly, all ages welcome
• Motswiri's own guides and trackers

General Lodge Information

• Lodge type: Safari Lodge
• Location: Madikwe Game Reserve, North West Province, South Africa
• Lodge size: 5 safari suites plus 1 three-bedroom Luxury Family Villa
• Recommended stay: 2–5 nights
• Malaria risk: None — Madikwe Game Reserve is malaria-free, year-round, with no prophylactics required
• Getting there: Approximately 360 km from Johannesburg, a 4½ hour drive on tarred road or a 60 minute the daily light-aircraft shuttle from OR Tambo

Motswiri Safari Lodge — An Exclusive Five-Suite Safari Lodge in Malaria-Free Madikwe

Motswiri Safari Lodge is a small, owner-styled thatched lodge in the southwestern corner of the 75 000-hectare Madikwe Game Reserve, taking a maximum of five suites plus a three-bedroom family villa. That is the whole point of it. Madikwe is a Big Five reserve, it is entirely malaria-free, and it is close enough to Johannesburg that you can land in the morning and be watching elephant before sundowners.

The lodge is hidden inside a stand of mature leadwood trees — motswiri is the Setswana name for the leadwood, which is where the lodge gets its own. From the main viewing deck you look down over a small but consistently busy waterhole, out across Madikwe's bushveld, and on a clear day well into Botswana.

Motswiri Safari Lodge trades on understated elegance rather than showmanship. The suites are large and quiet, the staff have been there long enough to remember how you take your coffee, and with only five suites in use you are never sharing a sighting with three other vehicles from your own camp.

Motswiri welcomes children of all ages, which is unusual at this level of lodge and one of the reasons Madikwe works so well for multi-generational travel. Every itinerary and daily schedule can be shaped around what your party actually wants to do — tell us the brief and we will advise on the best combination of drives, downtime and transfers.

We have stayed at Motswiri ourselves; our own thoughts and photographs are in the Motswiri Photo Gallery.

Rooms and Suites

Motswiri Safari Lodge has five safari suites and one three-bedroom Luxury Family Villa, sleeping a maximum of sixteen guests in total.

Safari Suites — five large suites, designed to open the interior straight into the bush using retractable doors and windows. Each has a wrap-around wooden deck, air-conditioning, ceiling fans, a gas fireplace for the cold Highveld winter nights, and an en-suite bathroom with both an indoor and an outdoor shower.

Luxury Family Villa — a self-contained three-bedroom unit, bookable full board or self-catering. All three bedrooms are en-suite and air-conditioned, opening onto a private lounge, a private deck and the villa's own pool. It is the sensible answer for a family group or two couples travelling together who want their own space at the end of the day.

Cuisine and Wine

Motswiri Safari Lodge serves four meals a day — breakfast, brunch, high tea and a three-course dinner — and it is genuinely difficult to go hungry there.

Meals move around the property depending on season and weather: the indoor dining room, the main deck under the leadwoods, or the boma around an open fire. The bar carries cold beer, a properly considered South African wine list and a decent spread of spirits, and it too looks out over the waterhole. Special diets are handled easily at this size of lodge — flag them at the time of booking.

Lodge Facilities

Motswiri Safari Lodge's rim-flow pool sits above the waterhole and is where you will spend the middle of a summer's day, when Madikwe's heat makes anything more ambitious a poor idea.

The main deck is the social heart of the lodge — a cocktail in the shade of the leadwoods, with a small but very active waterhole below you. Elephant, kudu, warthog and a long list of birds come and go through the day, which means the deck is a game-viewing position in its own right, not just a place to wait for the next drive.

Wi-Fi is available in and around the central lodge area. Being deep in the bush, the signal is workable rather than fast — fine for messages and email, less so for video calls, which is arguably the correct arrangement.

Wildlife Activities

Motswiri Safari Lodge runs two game drives a day, early morning and mid-afternoon, in open vehicles across the Big Five Madikwe Game Reserve.

Madikwe holds elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo and rhino, and is one of the most reliable reserves in South Africa for African wild dog — a species most safari-goers never see. The Motswiri guides and trackers are strong across the whole picture, not just the headline animals: trees, insects, spoor, and Madikwe's bird list, which runs to well over 300 species.

Because access to Madikwe is limited to lodge guests only, vehicle numbers at a sighting stay low. That single piece of reserve policy does more for the quality of a Madikwe game drive than anything a lodge can offer.

Family Friendly

Motswiri Safari Lodge accepts children of all ages, with no minimum age restriction — the combination that makes it one of the more practical family safari options in South Africa.

Children get their own activity packs, bush walks, junior safari activities and a separate kiddies' menu. A babysitting service is available on request at reasonable rates, so parents can take an afternoon drive or a quiet dinner without logistics becoming a negotiation. Combined with the malaria-free status, this is a lodge you can bring a five-year-old to without a conversation with your GP first.

Spa and Wellness

Motswiri Safari Lodge offers in-room spa treatments, taken in the privacy of your own suite rather than in a communal spa building.

The menu covers full-body, back and neck massages, along with manicures and pedicures. Treatments are best booked on arrival for the quiet middle of the day between drives, when the bush has gone flat and the pool is the only other sensible option.

FAQ

Is Motswiri Safari Lodge in a malaria area?

No. Motswiri Safari Lodge sits in the Madikwe Game Reserve in South Africa's North West Province, which is malaria-free year-round. No prophylactics are needed, and no precautions beyond ordinary insect repellent for comfort. This is the main reason Madikwe is chosen for families with young children, older travellers, pregnant guests, and anyone who would rather not take anti-malarials on a first African safari.

How do you get to Motswiri Safari Lodge from Johannesburg?

Motswiri Safari Lodge is roughly 360 km northwest of Johannesburg, a 4½ hour drive on tarred road via the N4 through Zeerust. Alternatively, a daily light-aircraft shuttle from OR Tambo International takes about an hour to a Madikwe airstrip, with the road transfer from the airstrip to the lodge included in the rate. Gaborone Airport in Botswana is under 30 km from the reserve.

How many rooms does Motswiri Safari Lodge have?

Motswiri Safari Lodge has five luxury safari suites plus a separate three-bedroom Luxury Family Villa. Each suite has a wrap-around wooden deck, air-conditioning, a gas fireplace, and an en-suite bathroom with both indoor and outdoor showers. The villa is self-contained with three en-suite bedrooms, its own lounge, deck and private pool, and can be booked full board or self-catering.

Can children stay at Motswiri Safari Lodge?

Yes. Motswiri Safari Lodge welcomes children of all ages with no minimum age limit, which is uncommon at this standard of safari lodge. Children receive activity packs, guided bush walks, junior safari activities and their own menu, and babysitting is available on request at reasonable rates. The three-bedroom family villa suits multi-generational groups wanting privacy, and Madikwe's malaria-free status removes the usual medical concern.

What wildlife can you see at Motswiri Safari Lodge?

Motswiri Safari Lodge sits inside the Big Five Madikwe Game Reserve — elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo and rhino are all present. Madikwe is also one of South Africa's most dependable reserves for African wild dog, and its bird list exceeds 300 species. The lodge's own waterhole draws elephant, kudu and warthog to within view of the deck, so game viewing continues between drives.

How many nights should you stay at Motswiri Safari Lodge?

Two to five nights is the recommended stay at Motswiri Safari Lodge. Two nights gives you three or four game drives — enough for the Big Five if the reserve is generous. Three to four nights is the better bet: it allows for a slow day at the pool, improves your odds on wild dog and leopard, and lets the rhythm of the lodge actually land before you leave.

Plan Your Stay at Motswiri Safari Lodge

Motswiri Safari Lodge is the answer to a specific question: where in South Africa can you have a proper Big Five safari, in a lodge small enough to feel like a private house, without malaria tablets and without a long-haul internal flight? Five suites, a family villa, a waterhole under the deck and a four-hour drive from Johannesburg — that combination is rarer than it sounds. It suits families with young children, first-time safari-goers who want the real thing without the medical admin, and couples who would rather share a sighting with nobody. Madikwe's dry winter months, roughly May to September, deliver the best game viewing as the bush thins and animals concentrate at water; the green summer months bring newborn game, migrant birds and dramatic afternoon storms, and are the better value.

Uyaphi.com has been arranging tailor-made African safaris since 1999 — twenty-seven years of putting people into the right lodge rather than the most heavily marketed one. We have stayed at Motswiri, we know which Madikwe lodges suit families and which quietly do not, and we will tell you plainly if another property fits your party better. Rates form part of a full safari itinerary, so we will build the flights, transfers and any add-ons around your dates rather than quoting you a bed in isolation. Tell us who is travelling, roughly when, and what you are hoping to see — we will come back with a Madikwe itinerary shaped around it, at no cost and with no booking fees.