Mosetlha Bush Camp and Eco Lodge

Mosetlha Bush Camp and Eco Lodge is family owned and run, a rustic and intimate, unfenced bush camp nestling at the very heart of the magnificent Madikwe Game Reserve. We are this Reserves only authentic bush camp and genuine eco lodge the unpolished gem in Madikwes crown!

It is our mission to provide you with an exclusive and unique wilderness experience. In order to ensure guests our best possible attention, we accommodate a maximum of 16 people in nine double cabins.

The camp is unfenced and our guests are accommodated in true safari style in raised wooden cabins set amongst the natural vegetation around a central camp fire and lapa area.

Cabins have partly open sides and are arranged in adjoining or detached double rooms with twin beds and simple amenities. Duvets, pillows, blankets and towels are provided by us.

Whilst bathrooms are not en suite, they are essentially private fenced toilet/shower complexes are discreetly situated amongst the cabins. We pride ourselves in our bushveld simplicity and do not have mod cons such as electrical power or running water - our showers are safari showers and water is heated through a donkey boiler so you only have a cold shower if you want one!.

We believe our catering is of a high standard we prepare all meals in the traditional bush style on the open fire. Included, too, are tea, coffee, fruit juice, rusks, fruit and snacks throughout the day and on your daily walks and drives. Drinks are sold at a nominal mark up and not at usual "hotel" prices.

It has always been our mission to provide an exclusive and unique wilderness experience for our guests, with minimal ecological impact on our surroundings. We were very excited to discover the following, written by Hitesh Mehta (who has, incidentally, been a guest of ours at Mosetlha) and are so proud to see that we successfully fulfil not only the required five, but ALL TEN of his suggested criteria for an eco lodge.

In International Eco Lodge Guide Lines, Hitesh Mehta writes that an eco lodge is an "accommodation facility that satisfies at least five of the criteria listed below, three of which must embody the main principles of ecotourism."

The main principles of ecotourism are:
- conservation of neighbouring lands
- benefits to local communities
- interpretation to both local populations and guests.

The Ten Eco Lodge Criteria:
- Helps conserve the surrounding flora and fauna.
- Tries to work with the local community.
- Offers educational interpretive programs to both its employees and tourists about the surrounding natural and cultural environments.
- Uses alternative, sustainable means of water acquisition and reduces water consumption.
- Provides for careful handling and disposal of solid waste and sewage.
- Meets its energy needs through passive design and renewable energy resources.
- Uses traditional building technology and materials wherever possible and combines these with their modern counterparts.
- During construction has minimal impact on the natural environment.
- Blends with local physical and cultural environment through careful attention to form, landscaping and colour, as well as the use of local traditional architecture.
- Contributes to sustainable local community development through education programs and research.

Mosetlha Bush Safaris:
Check in time at the Gate is 12.30 and you will be directed from there to the NWPTB Administration Offices where you will park your car and one of our guides will meet you and bring you back to the Camp to start your Mosetlha Experience!

On arrival at the Camp you will find lunch ready for you and you can unpack and settle in. That afternoon you`ll be taken on your first game drive. (Leaving time varies depending on the time of year from about between 3.00 in mid winter to 4.30 in the heat of summer.)

Our professional, qualified field guides will take you out into the Reserve in our open 4x4 vehicles where you will have the chance to see the Big Five, the endangered wild dog, cheetah, a multitude of plains game and over 340 species of birds.

Youll be out for about 4 hours and half way through you`ll stop at a picturesque spot for drinks and snacks at sunset. After dark, spot lights are used to ensure that you are able to witness our more secretive, nocturnal animal and bird life.

Upon your return, a wholesome and traditionally cooked dinner will be waiting for you. After this, you can take your drinks or coffee to the camp fire and share your experiences of the day before collapsing into bed, to sleep as you can only do in the silence of the bush, under the stars.

The next morning we`ll wake you up for a quick cup of coffee and an early morning start. (Here again, times vary between a 5am wake up call on the hot summer mornings and as late as 7.30 when its colder.)

In the summer when you get back you`ll have a quick breakfast (toast, cereals and muesli, yoghurt, fresh fruit, hard boiled eggs and cheese) and time for a shower and a rest before lunch, then some more chill out time read your book, do some bird spotting at the little water holes we have around the camp, or have an afternoon nap. Then it`s time for the afternoon drive. During the winter months, we do a big cooked brunch and lighter afternoon high tea of soup, sandwiches and muffins just before your game drive.

On your day of departure, after your morning game activity, you come home to the camp for breakfast. We then take you back to your car at around midday for your return trip home (where it`s back to real life after a few days of fabulous game viewing and serious relaxation, taking with you lots of photographs and some wonderful memories!).

Mosetlha Bush Camp and Eco Lodge:
Madikwe is South Africa`s fourth largest game reserve at 75 000 hectares. This magnificent malaria free area offers you the opportunity to experience the magic of the Big Five and a true safari adventure. Situated in the North West Province bordering Botswana, Madikwe is just a 3 hour drive from Johannesburg or Pretoria, 1 hours from Sun City and an easy hour from Gaborone.

Managed by the North West Parks and Tourism Board and together with the private sector (lodge owners) and the local people, Madikwe is operated as a joint venture to stimulate ecologically sustainable economic activity based on wildlife, for the benefit of the people of the region.

his community involvement thinking was something of breakthrough in the early 1990`s when Madikwe was formed, and has served as a template for other game reserves to work from. It has also ensured a healthily inflated local employment rate in Madikwe.

The Madikwe area is steeped in history and tradition. Historically, this is Herman Charles Bosman`s land you can easily visualize his Oom Schalk Lourens sitting under a Karee boom, contemplating the finer points of life or recovering from the alcoholic delights of its berries. The famous Mafikeng Road runs straight through the Reserve explorers, traders, hunters, missionaries and, of course, Mzilikazi passed this way during the making of South African history. Today Madikwe is regarded as one of the finest conservation areas in Africa and has taken its place as South Africa`s top wildlife and game viewing destination.

Accommodation and Facilities at Mosetlha Bush Camp and Eco Lodge:
We provide all accommodation and ablution facilities and all meals and snacks as mentioned above. Our Camp accommodation consists of wooden cabins with partly open sides, raised about a metre off the ground. Provisions include twin beds and all bedding (duvets, pillows and blankets) and towels. (In the winter we provide hot water bottles and extra blankets.)
The facilities are not en-suite. We have three toilet and shower complexes discreetly positioned near the cabins. These are of roofed timber construction and are fully surrounded by a wire mesh fence. (We also provide potties in the cabins for overnight use.) Although we do not have running water, hot water is always available and is heated through a traditional donkey boiler, and our safari showers and VIP toilets work extremely well.

Children Policy
Children 6 years and older are more then welcome at the Mosetlha Bush Camp and Eco Lodge.

Weekend Policy
A Minimum of 2 nights over a weekend, from the Friday - Sunday.

Our very affordable, fully inclusive rate is per person per night sharing and covers: gate entrance fee, comfortable accommodation, three meals a day plus tea, coffee, snacks, fruit, fruit juice through the day, a morning bush walk or game drive and a sunset game drive, and MRI emergency evacuation insurance cover.

Meals and Drinks:
Catering includes all meals per day, starting with lunch on the first day and ending with breakfast on the day of departure. (In the winter months there will usually be a cooked brunch at about 11h00 after the morning drive; high tea at about 15h00 and dinner at about 19h30.) We also provide snacks during drives and tea, coffee, rusks and fruit are always available. We believe our catering is of a high standard, in the traditional bushveld style using open fires, potjie pots and braai grids.

We sell a reasonable selection of beer, wine, spirits, fizzy drinks and mineral water.
Please do not bring your own drinks or food; this makes things awkward for us and embarrassing for you. If, despite this request not to do so, you still decide to bring your own drinks or food, please note that there will not be fridge space for it and you will be charged a corkage fee for drinks.