Rhulani Safari Lodge

Lodge And Activity Highlights

• Big Five game drives twice daily, maximum 10 guests per open vehicle
• Guided walking safaris with a qualified field guide and tracker
• Malaria-free year round — safe for young children and older travellers
• A private heated plunge pool with every chalet
• Award-winning South African wine list, and beer served properly cold
• Eight thatched chalets only, on a hilltop crest above the plains

General Lodge Information

• Lodge type; Safari Lodge
• Location; Madikwe Game Reserve, North West Province, South Africa
• Lodge size; 8 thatched chalets, 18 guests maximum
• Recommended stay; 2–5 nights
• Malaria risk; None — Madikwe Game Reserve is malaria-free, year round
• Getting there; Approximately 350 km north-west of Johannesburg, a 4 to 4.5 hour drive. By air, a 45-minute scheduled light-aircraft flight from OR Tambo International to Madikwe's Western Airstrip, then 15 minutes by road to the lodge. Gaborone, Botswana, is roughly 150 km and two hours away.

Rhulani Offers Exceptional Luxury And Wildlife, The Perfect Madikwe Safari Lodge

Rhulani Safari Lodge is a five-star, eight-chalet lodge set along a hilltop crest in the western sector of Madikwe Game Reserve, with long views across the plains and koppies to the Botswana border beyond. The name is Xitsonga for "relax", and the lodge has built everything around that single instruction.

Madikwe is South Africa's fifth-largest reserve, it holds the Big Five, and — the part that decides it for most families — it is entirely malaria-free. No day visitors are permitted anywhere in Madikwe, so vehicle numbers at a sighting stay low and the bush stays quiet. Rhulani suits couples, families and small groups equally well, which is rarer than it sounds.

See our own photographs and honest impressions in the Rhulani Safari Lodge photo gallery.

Rooms and Suites

Rhulani Safari Lodge has eight units in total: six luxury private chalets, one premium chalet with a separate living room, and a two-bedroom luxury family suite. Each is a detached thatched bungalow, positioned well apart from its neighbours so that you neither see nor hear anyone else.

Every chalet opens onto a private terrace with its own heated plunge pool and an uninterrupted view into the reserve — worth every rand on a January afternoon. Inside, expect a king-size or twin configuration, climate-control air conditioning, a fireplace for winter nights, a mini bar fridge and a coffee machine as standard. En-suite bathrooms have an oval bath, twin basins, and both indoor and outdoor showers.

The luxury family suite has two separate en-suite bedrooms joined by a communal lounge and a shared deck with its own heated pool, sleeping a maximum of six. The remaining chalets take up to three with an extra bed.

Cuisine and Wine

Rhulani Safari Lodge serves traditional Southern African cooking, complemented by an award-winning South African wine list and, as it should be, genuinely cold beer. The kitchen changes the venue rather than just the menu — you rarely eat in the same place twice.

Dinner is served indoors in the chandelier-lit dining room, or outside in the boma beneath the stars with a fire going. Both are good. The boma is better.

For an anniversary, a honeymoon or simply because you feel like it, ask for a private dinner served on the deck of your own chalet. Give the lodge a day's notice and it will be waiting when you come back from the afternoon drive.

Accommodation Facilities

• Views over the lodge waterhole from the main deck
• Swimming pool
• Outdoor deck overlooking the waterhole
• Intimate lounge area and library
• Indoor dining room
• Boma for open-air dinners
• Curio and gift shop
• Bar
• Wi-Fi throughout

Wildlife Activities

Rhulani Safari Lodge runs two game drives a day, early morning and late afternoon, each led by a qualified field guide and tracker in an open vehicle carrying no more than 10 guests. Madikwe delivers the Big Five — elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo and rhino — alongside cheetah, both spotted and brown hyena, and one of South Africa's most reliable populations of endangered African wild dog.

Birders should bring the book: the reserve records over 350 species, and the summer migrants from November onwards are exceptional.

Guided walking safaris are available on request. Ask at the lodge rather than on the morning — bush walks need arranging in advance and cannot always be accommodated at short notice.

Family Friendly

Rhulani Safari Lodge is one of the most genuinely child-friendly lodges in Madikwe, and the malaria-free setting is the reason families keep choosing this reserve over Kruger. There is a dedicated playroom stocked with toys, art supplies and DVDs, and babysitters on hand — whether the children stay in the playroom or go off hunting bugs.

After breakfast, younger guests can take a "Bumble Drive", a short child-friendly loop close to the lodge where they meet the smaller, less alarming residents from the safety of the vehicle. It buys parents an hour, and the children come back full of it.

The family suite sleeps a maximum of six; the other thatched chalets take up to three with an added bed.

Spa and Wellness

Rhulani Safari Lodge brings the treatment to you rather than the other way round. Massages and spa treatments are given in the privacy of your own suite or out on your private deck — your call — which usually means the gap between the morning drive and lunch, with the bush doing the ambient soundtrack for free.

Rhulani Safari Lodge — Frequently Asked Questions

Is Rhulani Safari Lodge malaria-free?

Yes. Rhulani Safari Lodge sits inside Madikwe Game Reserve in South Africa's North West Province, which is a malaria-free zone year round. No prophylactics are required for any part of a stay. This is the main reason Madikwe is chosen over Kruger by families with young children, by pregnant travellers, and by anyone who would rather not take antimalarials on holiday.

How do you get to Rhulani Safari Lodge from Johannesburg?

Rhulani Safari Lodge is roughly 350 km north-west of Johannesburg, a four to four-and-a-half hour drive on good tar roads for most of the route. Alternatively, a scheduled 45-minute light-aircraft flight runs from OR Tambo International to Madikwe's Western Airstrip, followed by a 15-minute transfer to the lodge. Airstrip pick-up and drop-off is included in the rate.

How many rooms does Rhulani Safari Lodge have?

Rhulani Safari Lodge has eight thatched units accommodating a maximum of 18 guests: six luxury private chalets, one premium chalet with a separate living room, and a two-bedroom luxury family suite. Every unit is detached and set well apart from its neighbours, each with a private terrace, heated plunge pool, air conditioning, fireplace and an en-suite bathroom with indoor and outdoor showers.

Is Rhulani Safari Lodge suitable for children?

Rhulani Safari Lodge is strongly geared to families. There is a two-bedroom family suite sleeping six, a playroom with toys, art supplies and DVDs, a babysitting service, and a short child-friendly "Bumble Drive" after breakfast. The malaria-free setting removes the need for antimalarials. Note that Madikwe itself is a Big Five reserve — children must be supervised on lodge grounds at all times.

What wildlife can you see at Rhulani Safari Lodge?

Rhulani Safari Lodge offers game drives across Madikwe Game Reserve, home to all of the Big Five — elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo and rhino. Madikwe is also one of the best places in South Africa to see endangered African wild dog, plus cheetah and both spotted and brown hyena. Over 350 bird species are recorded, with summer migrants arriving from November.

How many nights should you stay at Rhulani Safari Lodge?

Two to five nights is the recommended stay at Rhulani Safari Lodge. Two nights gives you three game drives, which is enough for the Big Five with reasonable luck. Three or four nights allows for a walking safari, a spa treatment and an unhurried afternoon at the pool, and considerably improves the odds on wild dog and leopard.

Why Book Rhulani Safari Lodge With Uyaphi

Rhulani Safari Lodge earns its place on a Madikwe shortlist for three specific reasons: only eight chalets, so the lodge never feels busy; a hilltop position in the western sector with genuine long views rather than a wall of thornbush; and a malaria-free reserve with no day visitors, which means no prophylactics, no crowds at a sighting, and a Big Five safari that a four-year-old can do alongside a seventy-year-old. Add a private heated plunge pool at every chalet and a wine list that would hold up in Franschhoek, and it becomes very hard to argue with — particularly for a family or a couple who want their first African safari to be an easy one.

For timing, the dry winter months from May to September concentrate wildlife around the waterholes and give you the sharpest game viewing of the year, with cold early starts and blankets on the vehicle. From November to March the bush turns green, the migrant birds arrive, the newborn impala appear and the rates soften. Both work; they are simply different holidays. Getting there is straightforward — a four-hour drive from Johannesburg, or a 45-minute flight if you would rather not do the road. We have been arranging African safaris from Cape Town since 1999, twenty-seven years of it, and we have stayed at these Madikwe lodges rather than shortlisted them from a supplier sheet. Tell us your dates, who is travelling and what you want the trip to feel like, and we will build it around Rhulani — including the flights, the transfers and the two or three nights either side that turn a lodge stay into a proper holiday.