July 5, 2013
While the 5th is actually four days before M's birthday, we decided to take a little getaway the weekend before to celebrate his first birthday in South Africa.
Pilanesberg is located less than three hours from Johannesburg, in the North West province. It is the fourth largest game reserve in South Africa, and is know for being a popular weekend destination for "Joburgers" to take to the bush, as it sports the big 5 (elephant, lion, rhino, buffalo and leopard) and is a Malari-free area (not something that is overly common for bush destinations).
Another key fact about this particular park is that it is known for being a great self-drive safari spot. To be honest, this terrified me at first. To date the only safaris I have done are those where someone much more experienced with African animals than myself is driving and guiding the tour in a large 4x4 vehicle. The thought of being at the wheel of a Hyundai Getz while an elephant made his way across the road was not very settling to me. However, when in Rome...or South Africa...
We settled on a combo self-drive/lodge stay for our little getaway.
The itinerary:
Friday night: relaxing dinner out in Joburg
Saturday: Drive to Pilanesberg, then drive ourselves around the south-eastern part of the park, and make our way up to the far north-west corner to an area known as the Black Rhino Reserve, to spend the night at Tambuti Lodge. Two game drives and amazing meals later, head out early Sunday afternoon.
Sunday afternoon: head back into the main area of Pilanesberg for one more self-drive before heading back to Joburg.
Can't get enough of these guys!
Another key fact about this particular park is that it is known for being a great self-drive safari spot. To be honest, this terrified me at first. To date the only safaris I have done are those where someone much more experienced with African animals than myself is driving and guiding the tour in a large 4x4 vehicle. The thought of being at the wheel of a Hyundai Getz while an elephant made his way across the road was not very settling to me. However, when in Rome...or South Africa...
We settled on a combo self-drive/lodge stay for our little getaway.
The itinerary:
Friday night: relaxing dinner out in Joburg
Saturday: Drive to Pilanesberg, then drive ourselves around the south-eastern part of the park, and make our way up to the far north-west corner to an area known as the Black Rhino Reserve, to spend the night at Tambuti Lodge. Two game drives and amazing meals later, head out early Sunday afternoon.
Sunday afternoon: head back into the main area of Pilanesberg for one more self-drive before heading back to Joburg.
Amazing Friday night dinner at Stella E Luna in Parkhurst.
Viewing game from a bird hide, and having lunch over looking the Mankwe dam.
The results of our first self-guided game drive!
Elephant spotting on our evening game drive in the Black Rhino Reserve.
While the rhinos we saw were all white rhinos (versus the elusive black rhino the park is named after), we saw a ton, and were the closest I have ever been to thee huge beasts.
This pic is for M- this particular rhino had a very unusually long and narrow horn, making her a bit of a legend among the rangers.
Evening skies in Pilanesberg. Subsequent to the sun setting, we saw a leopard trudging through the tall grass; however, given the bumpy road and that we were constantly moving to keep pace with the leopard, there are no photos to evidence this incredible experience!
While our ranger was unsuccessful at locating a lion on our morning drive, the scenery was spectacular and it was a gorgeous morning for a bush drive.
Our final self-drive of the weekend on Sunday afternoon (and our first hippo sighting in S.A.!).
The verdict on self-drive: it is such a rewarding experience, and one we will definitely attempt again soon. A great weekend adventure to celebrate M's first S.A. birthday!
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