Madikwe Safari Lodge

Lelapa's pool faces the reserve's signature waterhole, and between the striped towels on its loungers and an elephant at the water's edge there is a lawn and a low fence of poles, marked as electric. It is the most important thing on the lawn. Madikwe is where the Kalahari sandveld runs into bushveld savanna, 75,000 hectares of it on the Botswana border, and the reserve keeps animals from both sides of the join, so wild dog and bat-eared fox turn up alongside the Big Five. The lodge spreads its twenty suites across three camps under thatch and adobe, and gives every one a plunge pool. Kopano's four share an infinity pool over a second waterhole; Dithaba's sit higher, on a koppie, with one of their own.

Recommended for families after a first safari somewhere malaria-free, and for couples, who get two camps where nobody is under sixteen unless one party books all four suites. Lelapa's four Family Suites take children of any age. Under-sixes cannot join the shared game drives and bush walks start at sixteen, so younger guests have the Kids' Adventure Safari Club, where casting animal tracks is on the syllabus, and a Cubs' Massage in the spa. Every meal is included, some of them out in the reserve, and dinner can be at the boma under the stars, or early for children. Elela Villa has its own chef and guide, for a party that wants the bush to itself. The day turns on two drives of about three hours, at dawn and dusk, and the evening one comes home in the dark, a spotlight sweeping the bush for aardvark and brown hyena, the late risers who skipped the morning drive.