Last Word Madikwe

We cannot thank Jodi and the other staff members for getting us there safely! The main road to Botswana was blocked due to a protest, so we had a five hrs detour on unpaved, pot holed roads, with no idea where we were! On arrival, our traumas were soon forgotten as the staff welcomed us “home” again. The food was even better than on our previous visits, and Damian’s intrepid skills on Safari never disappoint. The water hole and underground hide are amazing, a unique experience at The Bush House! We love the small, intimate lodge.

It was truly a home away from home where someone was always waiting for you to come home and warm you up. It is the little things that is not seen but always felt, a place where a piece of your heart will never leave and friends that made you feel like you are family.

We recently spent a month in South Africa and ended our vacation at the Last Word Madikwe. The setting would be difficult to beat. Although it was hot, we were never uncomfortable as there was plenty of shade, a beautiful breeze, and a small pool overlooking the watering hole. Our room was large and the bed comfortable, but, we spent virtually no time there as there was so much to do. The room was fully stocked with wine, gin, and sodas, but we never touched it since those things were freely available during meals and the sundowner on the evening game drives. There are comfortable chairs and a blind that overlooks the watering hole, where animals come all day long. It is truly an incredible experience. There are two game drives daily: a sunrise, which in February departed the lodge at 5.30 am and an evening one, which departed at 4 pm. Our guide was Damien, who was excellent--very knowledgeable, and doggedly determined to find the most interesting animals to see. We saw the Big 5, along with wild dogs, giraffes, cheetahs, zebras, numerous species of antelope, etc. There are only six rooms at the Last Word Madikwe, which means no more than about 12 guests at a time. While we were there, there were ten guests--four went in one safari vehicle guided by Jodi, and six went in the other guided by Damien. That meant lots of personal attention from the guides and the rest of the staff. Madikwe is so big that we rarely saw other safari vehicles, and when we did, there were only one or two others. I can't say enough about the entire staff. When we left, we forgot some certificates that we had earned from a previous destination. Taryn emailed me scans of the certificates so that we would have them. The entire staff also put on a song and dance routine during one of our dinners which was good fun.

I've recently returned from a 10-night stay at "The Last Word Madikwe" which has been under new ownership since July 2023 and was previously known as "The Bush House." I'm a solo traveller and this was my 12th stay at the property since 2010. All the staff have been retained by the new owners, two new managers are in place and "The Last Word" have wide-ranging development plans for the future. A soft refurbishment of the property has been completed, and although much of the furnishings and decor were not to my taste, that is purely subjective and others may love the new look. I was allocated two rooms I'd not occupied before; the first being quite light during the night due to a lack of blackout blinds and the lighting of the outside path. It was also quite public during the day as it faced the path used by the staff going about their duties. But that is the nature of that particular room. There was no outside private patio area either; a chair placed outside for guest use faced the same path and was situated between a table piled high with cushions and a stack of chairs the other side. I eventually discovered the guest safe at the back of the top shelf in the wardrobe. I'm 5'6" and struggled to reach the reset button near the hinges at the back of the safe door; even with one foot inside the wardrobe! It was agreed this was impractical and it was moved to a lower shelf; although I was surprised no-one had noticed the inconvenient location before. The next day I was offered a choice of three other rooms and chose the one directly opposite as it made it easier to move my already unpacked belongings; only to discover it didn't seem to have been adequately checked by housekeeping prior to guest allocation. There was no cold water available in the wash basin due to a "twist in the pipe" which was quickly rectified, but the cold-water supply continued to operate on an intermittent basis for a couple of days. Perhaps due to an airlock? I couldn't put my toiletries on the glass shelf in the shower as one of the supporting brackets was coming away from the wall and the glass shelf was in danger of falling into the shower. Again, it was quickly rectified, but as the "in-house toiletries" supplied by the property had been placed at the more stable end of the shelf, I think the staff may have been aware of the issue. I like to read, but there wasn't even a chair in the room, so towards the end of my stay I asked the manager (who had been on leave at the beginning of my stay) to "walk through" the second room allocated and consider where improvements could be made to enhance the guest experience. To her credit, she was receptive to my points, and as the room was cluttered with random pieces with no cohesion or a consistent theme, I suggested how space might be freed up to accommodate a chair. Two umbrellas and a yoga mat placed next to a bedside table in a large circular container could easily be relocated elsewhere and the container removed. This w

It’s an amazing experience staying in The Bush House. We were welcomed by a very friendly team that remember our names from day 1. John, Caitlin, Damian and the rest of the staff are very attentive and friendly. Caitlin / John awaited us with their huge smiles on their faces every return from the game drives. We were served with hot towels and hot chocolate. Special thanks to Damian, a very knowledgeable and informative guide, he went above and beyond to look for us the big five. With his excellent information, we understand more about the animal’s behaviour. The room is very spacious with comfortable beds and the food is very delicious. I highly recommend this lodge to anyone and I am looking forward to go back again!

My husband and I absolutely loved our time at Bush House where we were welcomed by extremely friendly staff. The setting is magnificent with a lush garden leading down to the waterhole, which had a continuous stream of animals day and night. We saw tons of elephants, as well as lion, rhino, leopard, zebra etc. The most magical part is the underground hide which gives a bird's eye view of the activities at the waterhole. Our guide Jody was very knowledgeable and made a huge effort to locate animals. The room was spacious and very comfortable and well appointed. The food was delicious and varied. All in all a wonderful experience and we would highly recommend Last Word Bush House to anyone visiting Madikwe.

Spectacular. Whilst the game viewing was top notch, it’s always the care, passion and friendliness of the team that makes the trips so magical. Everyone was an absolute joy and I can’t commend them enough. It genuinely feels like returning to a family whenever I visit and my guests are always blown away by everything the team at The Bush House do. Jodi was an absolute gem to work with, as was Damien and his baffling bird knowledge - you could feel the passion, love and expertise in their guiding and it resulted in every game drive being memorable. Jon was always smiling, accommodating and personable - as was Caitlin, making every moment back at base homely and calming. Them, and the rest of the team, truly are special - this last visit has further reaffirmed not just my love for Madikwe, but for The Bush House, that now feels like a true home away from home. Looking forward to being back again soon!

It can´t be better!! Super friendly stuff, we felt like at home and in paradise!! The guide Jodie was super and answered every question. We saw such a lot of animals, we never expected. The rooms were spacious and with ALL you need (even more :-)). Since this year, the lodge belongs to "The Last Word". We highly recommend this lodge. If possible, we would give more stars!!!

The Bush House in the Western side of Madikwe game reserve has recently been sold by its long term family owners to the ‘Last Word’ group of hotels - another company that is family owned and which specialises in ‘small and intimate properties’. We were rather staying on the cusp of the change. A new management couple, Tataum and Jaco, were in place, but it seemed that many of the rest of the staff were retained from the previous regime. Without fail, all of those staff were friendly and helpful. Nothing was too much trouble. The staff are at the heart of a good game lodge, and their current staff are, without exception, brilliant. The feel is one of being embraced into a family - not formal or stuffy. We had many interesting and varied chats with Tataum, Jaco, Jodie, Caitlin and Jon. Roxan, Tebogo and Chef Bertha (with the rest of their team) provided us with tasty meals every day. Some of the changes benefitted us enormously: Many of the bar drinks were now included in the room rate - although there were also some ‘premium’ drinks that could be ordered which would incur a cost. It was very clear, however, which were which, and the included selection was very wide. It is also now the policy that they would not normally have more than six guests in a vehicle. As a photographer, I really appreciated this change. It can be hard to get the shots you want when you are ten in a wagon. Our guide was Jodie and she was great. She was fun and knowledgeable- but also happy to admit when she didn’t have the facts to answer our questions - with a promise to investigate. As experienced safari goers, we appreciated the fact that she engaged her different guests at their different knowledge levels. I enjoyed being with a single guide for the whole stay, as it allows you to build a rapport. A longer stay also allowed us to explore more of the various areas and ecotypes within the vast Madikwe reserve. Jodie made sure we went to many different areas - even taking us on a couple of extended drives out to the East of the reserve (where we had a superb picnic in lieu of afternoon tea). The diversity of the wildlife was excellent. In terms of the ‘headline’ species, lions were viewed on most days, with the cheetah giving us three photographic opportunities over the holiday. We were lucky enough to get one glimpse of a leopard - but we were aware that it would be a long shot at Madikwe, as the leopards are not as habituated as in somewhere like Thornybush or Sabi Sands. The wild dogs gave us the run around - but then treated us to a beautiful evening viewing at the Bush House waterhole. We then picked them up a couple of days later on a hunt. That waterhole was the highlight of our Bush House stay! With little to no water remaining at the end of winter at non-pumped pans the Bush House bore-hole fed offering brought in a seemingly endless parade of species eager for a drink: impala, zebra and magnificent male kudu jostled for position until the elephants arrived. T