Pilanesberg Game Reserve

Great Park with lots of game to see.

A visit to the Pilanesberg Game National park.

The park is in a huge extinct volcanic crater and is about 50 000 Hectares big, about 1.5 hours drive from Johannesburg South Africa.

We decided to go on a camping trip for about 10 nights from 24th January to 3rd February 2011. This was our second trip to the park and, as before, we really enjoyed our stay.

One of the reasons we like the park is that there is always plenty to see. The Pilanesberg has a large variety of animals including the big five (Elephant, Rhinoceros, Buffalo, Leopard and Lions). There are more than 50 mammals, 66 reptiles and 300 bird species. Most of the species are quite abundant as well, so one never has to go far to see something.

We camped the first half of our stay at the Manyane camp site. The camp site is very nice and has all amenities one would expect. There is a large walk-in aviary with many of the bird species that can be seen in the park as well as some self-guide walking trails, safe from Lions and other dangerous animals. However there are some smaller animals, like the Impala (a small antelope), Zebra and some monkeys that visit the camp-site. One evening after dark we wondered what the unusual noise was and I found at least a hundred of the Impala grazing around our tents! They were not afraid of us and we could walk right up to them. Took out my camera, tried to take some photo's, but it was too dark. I decided to try using the flash to take at least one shot, expecting them to take off the moment they see the flash. To my surprise they were not bothered at all and just continued grazing. Got some amazing photos!

There is an information centre, known as the Pilanesberg Centre that's also a restaurant and curio shop almost in the centre of the park that I found well worth visiting. It's behind fences so you can safely get out of your vehicle. They have a viewing deck where one can enjoy a lunch or a cup of coffee. This deck looks over a plane with a water hole close by. Every time we visited the centre there was something worthwhile going on. They often put out pieces of mineral salt that attracts all kinds of animals. It was great seeing some Kudu (a large antelope) and Giraffe making use of this treat. A whole heard of about ten Giraffes came along for a lick of salt and a drink of water. There is also a resident group of Warthog and we even saw some babies suckling from their mother. Another time there was a female white rhino grazing just a few meters away from us! And yet another time some Zebra fowls playing and chasing some Blue Wildebeest around the water hole.

The Friday evening we treated ourselves to a night time game drive, run by a game ranger of the park. This was an unforgettable experience. We left the camp-site just before dusk with the ranger who was called Nelson. He had great knowledge of the park and some wonderful things to tell us about even the smallest and least significant animals. We saw some Rhino and Impala and then as dusk was settling in we managed to see a small pride of Lions! They were rather docile and uninterested in us though. From there on it went completely dark as the night settled in, but we managed to see a number of Owls and other night birds. One thing that was unforgettable was the herbal scent from the bush around us - the night really enhanced it. Then a Hyena appeared in the bush, an animal almost never seen in daytime! The greatest surprise was a herd of Elephant that appeared right in front of us, there were even some new babies between them. Needless to say we kept a respectful distance between us and the herd. Elephant, especially with young babies, can be aggressive. An interesting thing about the Elephant is how quiet they walk. One would think that such a huge animal would make some noise, but you cannot hear their feet on the road as they walked. One of the big bulls was making a mess (defecating) on the road as he was walking. The ranger then told us that if an Elephant gets a stomach upset, the only thing for him to do is to eat the faeces of another Elephant, to revive the necessary bacteria in his digestive tract!

From here on we moved to another camp-site called Bakgatla. This was the lesser of the two camp-sites, but because it was on the other side of the park we were able to explore different places again. There was a nearby dam and hide called Ratlhogo Hide that we visited a few times especially early morning and late afternoon. Took some great pictures of a Hippopotamus having a huge yawn! Here we also saw a herd of Rhinoceros and Zebra coming for a drink.

On another drive through the park we saw an Elephant having a back scratch against a tree and a few moments later another one having a dust bath. He was using his trunk to throw a lot of dirt and dust onto his back. It apparently helps to keep parasites and excessive sunlight away of his skin. At yet another hide (Batlhako Hide) I managed to get a photo of a Fish Eagle taking a dive in an attempt to catch a fish, but unfortunately he came up out of the water empty handed (clawed?).

January was an interesting time to go to the park as most animals just had their young and there are babies and fowls everywhere. We got many photos of babies suckling from their mothers!

Further we saw some rabbits, a Fox and a Jackal as well as many species of birds throughout the entire park also many big herds of Blue Wildebeest, Zebra and Impala.

Really a park well worth visiting and one will not be disappointed as there is always something new to see around the next corner.

Jan Smit

Johannesburg
South Africa

Small park compared to Kruger, but highly recomended as it is next to a primier destination like the Sun City Hotel Complex. Visited this park and spotted the big cats on a morning game drive, and the quality of light was very nice to photograph.

Big Five in one day

This was an amazing experience. Large enough to feel like you are really out exploring. Something to see around every corner. From small birds to elephants, the closer the look the more you learn. A real opportunity to get very, very close to nature. Our guide was able to find "the big five" all in one outing. But there is so much more to this reserve than the big five. I will remember the sights and sounds for a long time. While it is clear that you are in a reserve, you still get a sense for the "wilds of Africa".

Fantastic park set in a crater with the big 5 to be seen.

Pilanesberg - Nice for a quite trip from Johannesburg

Pilanesberg is a nice reserve but not spectacular. We saw 4 of the big 5 but sitings were sparce. Good guides are key as we probably would have missed a great number of animals without them.

On track to the lions, but we did not see them! But certainly 4 rhino's!

We only spend 3 days in Pilanusberg, but we were impressed! Very luxury Bakabung Game Lodge, very good meals, nice safaris with a good explaining bij the ranger, beautifull landscape and a lovely swimmingpool!

Free trip so why not to use?

We enjoyed the game reserve so close to the "Little Las Vegas" of South Africa. Friendly staff and great to find such a diversity of big animals.

Around the corner from South Africa's Las Vegas is a tranquil wildlife environment that is still very professionally managed

I was at Pilanesberg in spring and had the experience of a lifetime... Hordes of giraffe prancing in sun-drenched fields; zebra, wildebeest, and springbok all grazing and relaxing together and with their young; a large pride of lions in a collective, placid siesta... Don't miss it. Make sure to put this Park on your itinerary!!!