Just across the South African boarder is a private game reserve called Madikwe. We spent the weekend, well 22 hours (overnight Saturday), at the Tau Lodge inside the game reserve. It was nice to spend time with our friends Dave and Lidija. We were all royally spoiled.

Here are some highlights:
- The rooms at the lodge were actually chalet style, each with their own outdoor shower, large bathtub, super comfortable bed, and balcony over looking the water hole.
- In the evening, after returning from our game drive, we heard noises coming from the water hole. We found three elephants bathing near our balcony. It was quite amazing to see and hear them breathing and splashing in the water.
- By the end of two 3 hour game drives (one Saturday afternoon and one Sunday evening) we had seen 4 of the Big 5!
*In the evening we saw two lions slowly on the hunt for some sort of food.
*During our rest stop, we saw a couple elephants in the bush, and then drove into the bush to have a closer look as they ate at trees.

*In the morning, I spotted a rhino as we drove down the road. We were able to follow the two of them for a short time until the other vehicles came. They turned out to be black rhinos (really a slightly darker grey from the light grey of white rhinos) which are very rare and can be aggressive.
*Lidija noticed a lion going into a thicket and as we approached we could see a whole pride of them, a mother and several young (approximately 5 months old). We stayed there for a while to watch them. We could get near to them without worry as they grew up in the park and are used to vehicles. (this is when the safaris can seem a little “zoo-like” but it was still pretty cool).
*We also spotted a herd of water buffalo that were slowly moving towards a thicket to find shade for the day.
*We tried to find a leopard in the hills but didn’t have any luck. It is the hardest to find.
- The game drives were very comfortable. At first I was worried that they would feel too long, but the time passed by quickly as we were seeing so many animals. The roads in the reserve were very well maintained so that ride was smooth and fairly quiet. They also provided big leopard print blankets for during the cool mornings and evenings.
- The scenery was amazing. The landscape was filled with rolling hills and we saw the most beautiful sunset yet near a smaller distant water hole.

- Besides those big 4, we also saw giraffes up close near the water hole by our lodge and a group of warthogs (a mother and her young) at the side of road.
- The main lodge itself was also beautiful. The restaurant had an indoor dinning area and an outdoor patio. There was also a very nice balcony on the second level where we sat for tea before our afternoon game drive. Both overlook the water hole which offers stunning scenery and extra opportunities for spotting animals.

- There was an abundance of fresh and delicious food available. We definitely ate well. For lunch and dinner however, although there were several options, many of them did not appeal to me. I could not bring myself to eat ostrich or springbok for instance. When you have seen these animals in the wild the idea of them being hunted legally for food is difficult to accept. I had a vegetarian quiche for lunch and fish (hach I believe) for dinner (I have not yet seen wild fish during our trip so I was ok with this).

It was a terrific weekend getaway! After a lot of camping, we were ready to be spoiled with a beautiful lodge. For safari pictures click here and for pictures of the lodge click here. You can also click here for more about our weekend in Madikwe.