Pilanesberg Family Safari - 4 Days

Guests are met and welcomed at a location of their choice in Johannesburg or Pretoria. After taking care of a few formalities your safari heads out in a north-westerly direction. First on the agenda is a visit to the Lion & Safari Park, where you’ll participate in a guided lion and wild dog excursion. Later you’ll say hello to the world’s tallest animal at their special feeding platform. After meeting the giraffe and maybe a zebra, ostrich or nyala, we’ll continue north-east to the malaria-free Pilanesberg National Park, en route to your luxury accommodations in the remote north-western sector. After settling in and some time for relaxation, you’ll enjoy your first open 4x4 safari into this wilderness area, under the guidance of a professional ranger and tracker.

You’ll enjoy two exciting guided game drives daily. Humans have occupied the mountainous Pilanesberg region since the Middle Stone Age, and many artifacts from that period have been found throughout the Park. Hunter-gatherers roamed the area well before the first Setswana-speaking people settled there, as cattle and grain farmers during the 18th century. The reserve is in fact named after a Tswana chief, Pilane. Prior to its establishment as a park in 1979, Pilanesberg was intensely farmed, resulting in a degraded environment depleted of indigenous wildlife. At considerable expense, the land was purchased, the scars of human settlement removed, and the new reserve restocked. At the time, it constituted the largest and most expensive game re-stocking and land rehabilitation project ever undertaken in Africa. More than 6 000 head of game were introduced from various other reserves (like the Kruger Park) during the ‘Operation Genesis’ wildlife translocation program. With wildlife resources rapidly declining in many developing countries in Africa, Pilanesberg National Park is one of the few areas where this trend has been reversed. Today Pilanesberg is home to a wide variety of African animals including lion, leopard, cheetah, elephant, black and white rhino, Cape buffalo, hippo, crocodile and brown hyena. A recent African wild dog introduction program has been initiated. At least 360 species of birds have been recorded. Your game drives (two daily) take place during periods of increased wildlife activity - during the early morning and late afternoon and evening. The remainder of your day may be spent enjoying the creature comforts of your accommodations.

Your last morning game drive is devoted to finding the few more elusive animals you haven’t yet seen. Often some of the best sightings of the safari occur on the very last game drive! Later, your transfer arrives and you’re returned to a location of your choice in Johannesburg or Pretoria after a memorable South African safari.