The safari vehicle rolls slowly down a sandy track as dawn begins to colour the horizon. A pearl-grey mist hangs low over the bushveld. Somewhere nearby, a francolin calls from the long grass. Your youngest child whispers, “Look,” pointing into the thicket where a pair of impala stand frozen in the early light before bounding away. It is a quiet, unforgettable moment and the beginning of an adventure.

If you’re travelling with young children, are pregnant or don’t want to take prophylactics for another reason, it’s good to know that many of South Africa’s premier wildlife destinations are completely malaria-free (or have a very low risk).

Here are some of our favourites:

1. Madikwe Game Reserve
Madikwe, one of South Africa’s largest private reserves and one of its best-kept secrets, lies against the Botswana border where the bushveld blends into the edge of the Kalahari. The reserve is home to the Big Five, as well as a thriving population of African wild dog. From the initial six dogs introduced in a relocation project in 1994, today, three packs roam the reserve.

Madikwe is completely malaria-free and a four-hour drive or a short charter flight from Johannesburg. It is entirely closed to self-drive visitors, which means you have the guidance of a ranger who knows this land intimately.

“Madikwe is one of my favourite private reserves in South Africa, because of its striking arid savanna landscape, which is quite different from Kruger or KwaZulu-Natal. Madikwe is home to thriving herds of elephants and incredible lion prides that are very easy to spot.

It is perhaps best known for the remarkable ‘5 Brothers’ cheetah coalition. These five males have survived together on their own since they were just a year old, after losing their mother.  Today, they are in peak condition. I had the privilege of seeing them last December when I took my daughter there for her 10th birthday! And just last week, one of my clients was lucky enough to watch them walking and playing right on the sand road,” says Leopard’s Daphnée Fillette.

2. Welgevonden Game Reserve
Welgevonden is a malaria-free Big Five reserve within the UNESCO-recognised Waterberg Biosphere in Limpopo. Accessible in under three hours from Johannesburg, it is close enough to combine with a city stay and remote enough to feel like you’ve genuinely escaped.

With exclusive-use villas, flexible safari schedules and plenty of space for both togetherness and solitude, Bontle Lodge lends itself particularly well to multigenerational families travelling together.

On a Leopard team-building trip, we enjoyed outstanding hospitality from the staff at Bontle Lodge and spotted white rhino, zebra, giraffe, cheetah and buffalo. We also saw brightly coloured malachite kingfishers, glossy blue starlings, helmeted shrikes and red-billed hoopoes.

“After an open game vehicle collected us from the entrance to Welgevonden, where we had left our car, I remember feeling my stress begin to melt away almost immediately,” recalls Leopard team member, Elise Kirsten. “The scent of the bush, the rhythmic bump of tyres on the dirt road and the anticipation of what animal might appear first (it was a zebra) had me slipping into safari mode long before we reached the lodge.”

3. Phinda Private Game Reserve
Malaria risk at Phinda is low enough that antimalarials are not considered necessary (although consult your health care practitioner if you’re at all concerned). Here, &Beyond has restored Phinda, which means ‘return of the wildlife’ in Zulu, from degraded farmland in KwaZulu-Natal into one of Africa’s most ecologically diverse private reserves.

“Phinda is a wonderful safari destination if you’d love to see cheetah and rhino. If you’ve done a trip to the Okavango Delta, for example, and didn’t get to see rhino, coming to Phinda will give you a fantastic opportunity to observe these animals in the wild, together with strong cheetah populations. I’ve had my best cheetah sightings at Phinda!” says Diana Granoux.

There are seven distinct habitats ranging from rare dry sand forest, home to the shy suni and the rare red duiker, and palm savannah to open woodland and wetland, each harbouring its own cast of species. In addition to black rhino and cheetah, Phinda is home to the largest population of nyala on private land.

The option to combine a game drive one morning with a turtle-nesting excursion or scuba diving at nearby Sodwana Bay the next makes this one of the few places where bush, beach and ocean adventures combine to expand the safari experience beyond the bounds of the reserve.

4. Tswalu Kalahari Reserve
Tswalu is South Africa’s largest private game reserve, sprawling across 110,000 hectares of the Southern Kalahari. It’s a landscape of terracotta dunes and grasslands, accented by the Korannaberg mountains, and it bears little resemblance to any other safari destination on this list.

It doesn’t have elephants, so it’s not the place to come if you’re determined to tick off the Big Five. Instead, visitors are drawn by the chance to see species such as pangolin, aardvark, meerkats and brown hyena. Tswalu is also home to black-maned Kalahari lions, desert-adapted black rhino and cheetah, although sightings can require more patience than in reserves where game densities are higher.

The staff are known for tailoring each stay around guests’ interests, making the experience feel deeply personal. You’ll be assigned a private vehicle, guide and tracker, allowing your days to unfold entirely around your curiosity. You might track meerkats on foot at dawn, head out on horseback across the dunes at dusk or simply linger at a waterhole for an hour longer than planned.

Tswalu is completely malaria-free and can be reached by direct charter flight from Johannesburg or Cape Town.

5. Gorah Elephant Camp
Gorah Elephant Camp, situated in the Eastern Cape, can be easily combined with a trip to Cape Town or the Garden Route. It’s the only private five-star concession inside Addo Elephant National Park, home to one of the densest elephant populations in Africa.

The camp itself is built around a restored colonial manor house that overlooks a permanent waterhole, and it is not unusual to sit on the veranda over morning tea. At the same time, a herd of elephants drifts past on their way to drink. Eleven tented suites extend from the manor house across the savannah, each positioned for privacy and wide views. It’s a slice of Big Five wilderness that feels quieter than the larger reserves to the north.

While it doesn’t cater for children under 12, Gorah works beautifully as a final stop on a longer journey south, or as a gentle introduction to the bush for a family in an area that’s entirely malaria-free. Watching elephants feed on succulent spekboom or gather at the waterhole, with a family of warthogs at golden hour, is the kind of thing you’ll remember for years.

Happy travelling,

The Leopard Team

P.S. If you haven’t seen it yet, take a look at our brand new website at leopard.voyage

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