Makweti Safari Lodge

Makweti Safari Lodge lies within the 85,000 acre Welgovenden Game Reserve, which shares a border with Marakeli National Park, affording guests a combination of "big-five" game viewing in a spectacular landscape and views across pristine bushveld to distant horizons.

The dramatic and beautiful landscape of rolling grass-lands and rugged mountains of the Waterberg was once the ancestral hunting ground of the stone age San people; it was also the inspiration behind Eugene Marais' famous book, 'The Soul of the White Ant'. Today it is home to various of Africa's legendary species of mammal, including the 'Big Five' (lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo). There are also 350 species of bird on the reserve. Guests can take in the beauty of the landscape, the diversity of life, and the wealth of San cave paintings through Makweti's wide range of activities, including game drives in open safari vehicles, night drives, and guided walks. All activities are accompanied by trained and experienced naturalists and, because of the small size of the lodge, can be tailor-made to guests' preferences.

Makweti's main lodge , built into a natural rock formation in the craggy Waterberg Mountains, achieves an effective architectural synthesis. Antique African art and comfortable stylish leather furniture sets a tone of relaxed sophistication, while the rugged stone and uncompromised vistas bring in the vast surrounding wilderness. Candlelit gourmet dinners, artfully presented, are served either in the formal dining room or under the stars around an atmospheric fire. The wine list is well chosen and extensive.

With only five spacious stone, glass and thatch suites a sense of exclusivity, privacy and luxury is fostered. Each suite is beautifully and creatively appointed with hand made fabrics, Kilim floor rugs, cotton sheets, down duvets, Victorian baths, indoor and outdoor showers and wood-burning stoves. Attention to detail and personal touches are remarkably ubiquitous.   

Perhaps Makweti's biggest advantage is that it is located in a malaria-free area, and is one of a very few game lodges in Africa to offer the 'Big Five' in a malaria-free environment. Furthermore, Makweti offers an holistic bush experience, with an emphasis on relaxation, and we feel it would be a wonderful place to begin, end, or punctuate a longer safari.

Conservation Dimension

For more than 80 years, the prime habitat of the Welgevonden Reserve has remained beyond the grasp of surrounding land-hungry farmers. This has almost entirely been due to some of South Africa's leading conservation figures in private industry, and the reserve has been sustained, and indeed added to, over the years by the wisdom and generosity of these individuals. Conservation is taken very seriously on the Welgevonden Reserve and, at any given point, the reserve is host to a number of scientific research programs. The result is a pristine piece of African wilderness boasting a very well balanced ecology, with ecotourism playing an important, but strictly controlled, role.