Madikwe is the fifth

largest game reserve in South Africa, teeming with leopards, lions, elephants, kudu, buffalo, zebra, giraffe, white and black rhino and an estimated 350 bird species.

The word ‘molori’ means ‘to dream’ in Setswana and guests at the Molori Safari Lodge in the heart of Madikwe may well need to pinch themselves when they awake to views of open grasslands and bushveld plains with the odd elephant swaying by.

Each of the five enormous stone, thatch and wood-built suites has floor-ceiling glass walls and terraces overlooking the reserve, bringing the natural world (although not all of the nature, thank goodness) inside. Getting down and dusty on dawn and dusk safaris is not so tough when you’ve got these beautiful rooms (with private plunge pools) to come home to. The work of local artisans is showcased alongside the best of modern design by interior wizard Stephen Falcke.

The lodge features personalised experiences from star-gazing to culinary classes, with menus tailored to guest tastes after private consultation. Dig in to a local barbeque (or braai ) on the deck at night. There’s a spa, naturally, an extensive wine cellar and a cigar lounge for wannabe Hemingways. Really, it’s like staying in a friend’s country manor – with pachyderms. Daily shuttle flights from Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban bring guests from civilisation to this wild place in less than an hour.

Mr Amos went on his first-ever safari at Molori and took these spectacular photographs. “Shooting those elephants in the rain at dawn felt like standing in a diorama in New York’s Natural History Museum,” Mr Amos says. He thought it was the (big) cat’s meow.

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