Week 241 · Black Rhino Game Reserve · Pilanesberg · South Africa
Safari
For one of the few times in my life, I booked an all-inclusive tour for the safari portion of the trip. Given the security situation in Johannesburg and after finally getting to South Africa, I wanted a stress-free experience. We did get a great experience — a little pricey but everything was handled.
We stayed just north of Pilanesberg National Park — most people hear of Kruger National Park and we heard it was spectacular but not materially better than where we were, and another 200% more expensive because of the branding and name recognition. The name of the lodge was Black Rhino Game Reserve. We were in a private lodge on the park grounds — inside the 15-foot main electric fence that spans the perimeter of the entire national park and then inside a fence for our lodge. Animals came right to the fence as they had a watering hole right at the lodge. Missed a lion by one night.
Pilanesberg National Park covers approximately 550 square kilometres in South Africa's North West Province, set within the crater of an ancient volcano approximately 1.2 billion years old — one of the largest alkaline ring complexes on Earth. It is the fourth-largest national park in South Africa and notably the closest Big Five reserve to Johannesburg (approximately 2 hours' drive). Unlike Kruger — which is a malaria zone — Pilanesberg is malaria-free, which significantly broadens its accessibility. Operation Genesis in 1979 relocated over 6,000 animals to restore wildlife that had been hunted out of the region over the previous century. The park is adjacent to Sun City, the resort complex built by Sol Kerzner, which opened in 1979 during the apartheid era as Bophuthatswana — a nominally independent homeland where gambling and entertainment banned in South Africa were permitted.
We booked 3 days with 2 drives per day, but with a late arrival on the first day (drives end at dusk) and a decision to combine 2 drives into one longer drive to see more of the park — we only did four. For me, about right. Others stayed 6 days and said it was a bit too much. The 4:45am alarm was also not in my planning.
First morning out — went about half the scheduled distance as we ran into animals immediately. First group was elephants (including one that nearly charged us) and then a pride of lions. Then both white and black rhino and lots of deer-type things and back for breakfast by 10am. People with us who used to live in Kenya said it was their best drive ever. Then 6 hours of free time in the middle of nowhere where you can't leave — but since I had work calls and credit card companies to talk to, it worked out fine.
On our long drive day we made it further into the park where we encountered humans that weren't on a guided drive but just paid a fee to drive through the park in regular cars. Like driving through Yosemite and seeing a bear — but managed. While we wore dull colours to blend into the background and couldn't get out of our jeep, the self-drive people would be getting out and taking selfies in brightly coloured clothes. Signs were clear: do not get out.
Our last morning we were focused on big cats — you become jaded as you see a herd of running giraffes and you are like "seen it." Found some lions but a long way from the road.
Dropped by Sun City on the way out — nice resort and many purple trees on the way back to Johannesburg. A shout out to Sharon — she bought a zoom lens a couple of years ago, which came in very useful on this trip.
"People with us who used to live in Kenya said it was their best drive ever. You become jaded as you see a herd of running giraffes and you are like 'seen it.'"