Pilanesberg
Big Five Game In The Crater Of An Extinct Alkaline Volcano Two Hours From Johannesburg And MALARIA FREE, Stocked From Scratch In 1979 In What Was Then The Largest Game Translocation Ever Attempted Which Makes It The Most Practical Safari In The Country For A Visitor With Two Days Rather Than A Week, With Sun City'S Resort Complex At The Gate · Sun City, North West
Pilanesberg sits in the crater of an extinct alkaline volcano, a ring of hills about twenty-five kilometres across that erupted more than a billion years ago and then eroded into concentric ridges with grassland in between. In 1979 the then-Bophuthatswana government stocked it from nothing in what was at the time the largest game translocation ever attempted, moving six thousand animals in, and what exists now is a complete big five reserve two hours from Johannesburg and Pretoria. Two facts make it the most practical safari in South Africa: it is MALARIA-FREE, and it is close enough that a visitor with two days rather than a week can genuinely see lion, elephant, rhino and buffalo without flying anywhere. Sun City's resort complex sits at the gate, which some people want and others would rather drive past. The hides are good, the roads are mostly tarred, and the crater geology gives it scenery that Kruger's flat lowveld does not have.
In an extinct alkaline volcanic crater beside Sun City, 160 km north-west of Johannesburg and Pretoria, Sun City, North West, South Africa
Gates open at first light and close at dusk with times that move through the year, so take them at the gate. Entry is a daily conservation fee - note that PILANESBERG IS MANAGED PROVINCIALLY RATHER THAN BY SANPARKS, so a Wild Card does not cover it and the booking channels are different from Kruger's or Addo's. WHICH GATES AND WHICH LOOPS ARE OPEN CHANGES, particularly after rain on the gravel sections, so ask on arrival. Guided drives, including sunrise and night drives, are run by the park and by the lodges, and are the only legal way to be out after dark. Hides such as Mankwe are self-drive and self-guided. Off-road driving is prohibited. Accommodation is in park lodges and camps or at Sun City at the gate, and both fill at South African weekends and school holidays. Johannesburg and Pretoria are both about two hours away.