Need to escape on a luxury, authentic safari, where over twenty-seven major species of game roam free, with all of them frequenting a large waterhole, which is surrounded by the lodge accommodation and hospitality areas? An animal kingdom where humans are elevated within the lodge areas for safety but with sublime vistas of the neverending animal parade …

This should also be a place where migrating and native birdlife establish their territory around the water, making for a year-round birders’ paradise…

This is Tau Game Lodge, a five-star safari gem situated on the far northern border of South Africa, in the malaria-free Madikwe Game Reserve, bordering Botswana. Madikwe is the fourth largest game reserve in the country.

To quote a recent guest to Tau: “Our game ranger knew his turf and not only did his knowledge of the game, their proximity and habits impress us, but also his respect for the bush in allowing the creatures of the wild their space.  Within minutes, we were photographing bull elephants, delicately foraging and breakfasting on new green flora after the rains, followed by white rhino and their young.”

The same guest also reported seeing two lions in their late-teens, lazy and looking kittenish in the morning sun, before sniffing the air and looking alert. “As our safari vehicle moved further down the track, we saw some wildebeest with their calves and realised those two maned boys had sniffed breakfast,” he chuckled when recounting this sighting at lunch.

Being captivated by the pecking order at the waterhole, right up to twilight, when reflections in the water of game parading at cocktail hour make for magical photographic memories, is highly addictive.

The plentiful game range from the Big Five to spotted and brown hyena, buffalo, leopard, zebra, jackal, to the endangered African wild dog, and plenty more. The large variety of antelope includes impala, springbok, kudu, waterbuck, eland, blesbok, nyala, sable and wildebeest. Giraffe, ostrich, and warthog, together with an array of smaller mammals, are amongst the magnificent animals that roam the reserve.

 The reserve is also populated with over 250 bird species. This makes for a world-class, memorable safari at Tau Game Lodge.

 Conservation at Tau

Tau management is constantly striving to reduce its carbon footprint and one of the most recent developments is to eliminate the use of plastic water bottles. Guests are provided with reusable water bottles on arrival, which can be refilled at various water stations situated around the guest chalets and the lodge.

Guests are safely ensconced at Tau, while game roam free on the reserve. 

Safari drives are conducted by highly skilled game rangers as visitors are not permitted to drive their own vehicles in the reserve.

Current special rates at Tau Game Lodge start from: R5,810 per person per night, including 3 meals daily and 2 safaris daily. The Tau live webcam is pure armchair heaven at: http://taugamelodge.co.za/main-lodge/live-webcam/