There are many ways to experience Madikwe. And now, three more reasons to celebrate it.
Madikwe Safari Lodge has been named a Condé Nast Traveller Triple Crown winner, with recognition across the Hot List, Gold List and Readers’ Choice Awards. In the 2026 Readers’ Choice Awards, readers also placed us among the Top 15 Resorts in South Africa. We have received a Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Award 2026 as well.
For us, the recognition means so much because no two stays here look quite the same.
A child’s first lion sighting. Coffee as the bush wakes up. A honeymoon under a sky full of stars. Three generations around the same dinner table. Or a few quiet days with nowhere else you need to be.
These are the moments behind the awards. One-of-a-kind safaris, shaped around the people who come here.
What does a Condé Nast Traveller Triple Crown mean?
For travellers around the world, Condé Nast Traveller’s awards are a trusted guide to some of the best places to stay and experiences to seek out. Its annual awards recognise standouts across the world of travel, from hotels and resorts to destinations, spas and safari camps.
The Triple Crown is something rarer. It recognises properties that have earned three of Condé Nast Traveller’s most significant distinctions: the Hot List, Gold List and Readers’ Choice Awards.
The Hot List recognises standout places that make an exceptional first impression, selected by Condé Nast Traveller’s editors from openings around the world.
The Gold List reflects the favourites of Condé Nast Traveller’s international editors, bringing together the places they rate most highly around the world.
The Readers’ Choice Awards belong to travellers themselves. Every year, hundreds of thousands of Condé Nast Traveller readers share the places they have stayed and loved, making this recognition especially personal. This year those votes placed Madikwe Safari Lodge in the Top 15 Resorts in South Africa, Condé Nast Traveller Readers’ Choice Awards 2026.
To be recognised across all three makes Madikwe Safari Lodge a Condé Nast Traveller Triple Crown winner.
No two Madikwe safaris are the same
The awards may be shared, but every experience of Madikwe is personal.
For one family, it might be watching their children discover the bush for the first time. For a couple, days together with little more to decide than whether to linger over breakfast or head back to their suite. A solo traveller might come for the freedom to experience Madikwe entirely on their own terms. And for friends or family travelling together, it could mean the privacy of a villa and the chance to have the place to themselves.
Then there are the moments nobody can plan. An elephant arriving at the waterhole while you’re beside the pool. A lion sighting that keeps everyone talking long after the game viewer has moved on. Dinner under a sky crowded with stars.
With three distinct camps and a private villa, there is plenty of choice in how you make Madikwe your own. Each offers a different way to experience the bush, connected by thoughtful hospitality, expert field guides and the extraordinary setting of Madikwe Game Reserve.
Here, the Kalahari and Lowveld meet in one of Africa’s largest malaria-free reserves, creating a landscape rich in contrast and home to the Big Five, wild dog, cheetah and more than 350 bird species.
One place, but never quite the same safari twice.
Come and make Madikwe yours
Awards are wonderful to receive. But the real reward is seeing Madikwe become part of someone’s story, whether it’s a first safari, a family tradition, a honeymoon, a birthday worth travelling for or simply time together somewhere extraordinary.
To everyone who has stayed with us, returned to us, recommended us or voted for us, thank you. You are part of this Triple Crown too.
And if your first Madikwe safari is still ahead of you, we’d love to welcome you.
Enquire about your stay at Madikwe Safari Lodge, or email us at res@madikwesafarilodge.co.za.
