TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums Africa Pilanesberg National Park Photo Safari, South Africa

We went on safari last July, and one of the places we visited was Pilanesberg National Park, which is South Africa's 4th largest park and 550 square kilometers in size (or about 200 square miles) This park hosts all of the Big 5 African species - Leopard, Lion, Cape Buffalo, Rhino, and Elephant. We saw all of these except the leopard, and many other animals as well. We even saw a pack of African wild dogs chase down and kill an impala - the circle of life right there in front of us. Very rare thing to see. This park can be visited in a day from points near Johannesburg. We took tons of pictures and here are just a few.

You can learn more about the park here: https://www.pilanesbergnationalpark.org/

Here are a few pics from the trip...


Entrance gate of the park



Walt and Barb with map of the park



Greater kudu bulls



A good burger can be had at the central rest stop in the park



Young kudu bull



Burchell's zebra - common in South Africa. They have grey stripes between the black and white stripes.



White Rhino. Our guide was getting a little nervous with this big boy only 20 feet from the vehicle



We drove to the top of a hill where we could see in all directions (safe from immediate predator attack) and got out of the vehicle for a minute to stretch our legs. Found some elephant "sign." Lolz.

Thanks for the pictures. Sorry you didn't get to see the leopard. Did you get to see cheetah? Cheetah were my absolute favorites--along with, for whatever reason, WARTHOGS, that I absolutely loved!! One of these days, I would love to go back, if we get the time and the money.

We saw so many cool animals. Wart hogs crack me up with their antics. They are feisty!

We also went to Loebies Predator park (another day) where a woman pretty-much single-handedly raised injured and orphaned predators by hand and now has them in her park.
She reached right into the honey badger cage and hauled him out for us to pet him (honey badgers are notoriously dangerous).
She has a baby lion she's raising in her yard, and he was incredibly feisty, and trying to trip up our guide who walked in the enclosure (her yard) with him.

She had several cheetahs, including one old man that had to have several surgeries to keep him alive. Cheetahs are my favorite of the big cats!

Barb got to pet a leopard who was rubbing up against the side of the cage like a house cat!

We love big cats of all descriptions.

I'll post up some pictures of our trip to Loebie's predator park. You'll love it!

Yes, cheetahs are definitely my favorites also. Don't know why warthogs amused me so much, but sounds like it's not unusual to love them! Yes, would love to see some more pictures!

We are lifetime members of an Cheetah Preserve in Oudtshorn SA. Visits there have been amazing. Playing fetch with a cheetah was just too cool.

Wow, that is very cool. There was just a 1-hour special on TV about the Cheetah and how it's speed and agility is unparalleled in the animal world.
They made a big point of their agility being just as important as their speed for their success as a predator.
Amazing animals.

Also while at Oudtshorn we were taken back to the breeding area. Which is a huge area, we were taken up into best I could describe is a deer stand and the male cheetah ran below us seeking a pre selected mate in one of the HUGE holding areas. The male would spray on the fence which was nothing like your house cat. The sounds the male and female made were amazing. There is a Cheetah Conservation group on Facebook that does some great stuff.

Sounds and looks like a great experience! Awesome pics, even the elephant dung, which I've heard is used to produce some good coffee!

Oooh, yuck!