Kwa Maritane Bush lodge

Kwa Maritane Bush Lodge sits in Pilanesberg National Park, overlooking a granite dome. The lodge has ninety-one rooms, each with a balcony or deck, air conditioning, and a mini-bar. Families can book connecting rooms, and executive rooms add extra space.

You can join guided game drives twice daily — mornings cool, afternoons golden — to see the Big Five and other wildlife. The lodge also has a game viewing hide at its waterhole, where you can watch animals drink from the comfort of a shaded seat.

The Kwa Lefikeng Restaurant serves buffet breakfasts and dinners, and an à la carte lunch. On Wednesdays and Saturdays, dinner moves to the bush boma, where you eat under the stars to the sound of a marimba band. The Kwa Mazout Bar offers drinks and a casual lounge area.

The Legacy Balance Spa provides treatments like the signature Thabayadiotso, while you watch game move across the plains. Two swimming pools include a waterslide and a kiddies pool, and there is a children’s playground.

The lodge is malaria-free and less than two hours from Johannesburg. Check-in is at four in the afternoon; check-out is at ten in the morning.