We are in South Africa and this morning we left Johannesburg to go to the Pilanesberg National Park.

We arrived at the Bakubung Gate around 11.30 am, we park our Dr. Livingstone and go to register and pay the entrance fee; the Pilanesberg is not part of the parks managed by San Parks and therefore our Wild Cardis not valid here.

After registering we leave: our first safari of this long journey has officially begun, it will lead us to explore 2 natural areas in South Africa that we have never visited before: the Pilanesberg National Park and the Marakele National Park, and then we go to Botswana, a country that we love particularly and where we always return willingly and where we will do other safaris.

The landscape of the Pilanesberg National Park is spectacular, on the outer perimeter of the park there are a series of hills eroded by atmospheric agents during the geological eras, while at the center of the park a vast flat area opens up; somewhat reminiscent of the caldera of a volcano even if it is not in the strictest sense of the term.

In fact, this area was formed millions of years ago in the place where a volcano was located but it did not erupt lava, but only made it go up towards the earth's surface but it solidified before going outside.

south africa Pilanesberg exploringafrica SafariADV

Later the solidified lava collapsed, in the same way as the caldera of a volcano collapses, creating underground hills that, finally, thanks to the action of erosion, that over the millennia has removed the softer materials, the hills of lava stone have emerged.

There are only 3 places in the world that have these geological features and the Pilanesberg National Park is the best preserved one.

We enjoy the wild and primitive landscape, but we also enter the "sighting mode" to search for animals; a few days ago we bought the book that describes in detail all the streets of the Pilanesberg National Park and indicates the places for potential sightings, even if we know that animals, despite having repetitive places and behaviors, can always be unpredictable and therefore there is never the certainty of sighting them in a certain place.

We leave from the Bakubung Gate and drive along the Kubu Drive to where the detour to the Kgama Drive is located; this dirt road is very scenic and runs first near the hills to then skirt the Lengau Dam, obviously we chose the dirt road immediately, we couldn't wait to get a bit dirty.

south africa Pilanesberg exploringafrica SafariADV

We do not make great sightings but we see many zebras climbing on the hillsides and the omnipresent, not only here in the Pilanesberg National Park, but throughout the continent, impalas; when we arrive at the dam, that has water all year round, we can admire a wonderful landscape.

In the water there are some dead trees that who knows how long they have been there, now they have become the refuge and nesting place of some birds such as cormorants, African darters and sacred ibis; they are very scenic and beautiful to photograph.

There are also other water birds such as ducks and herons, while, on the opposite side of the water, there are some hippopotamus lying in the sun, a group of red hartebeests that probably came here to drink and some waterbucks walking on the beach or sitting nearby.

After admiring this wonder for a while we continue our journey along the Kgama Drive; the road goes up and down and, in some places, has a series of curves and, at every turn, the landscape changes ... we have just arrived but the Pilanesberg National Park has already conquered us.

south africa Pilanesberg exploringafrica SafariADV

At some point, in the middle of the bush, we see an unmistakable shape: a giraffe!

And obviously where there is one, almost always, there are others as well; they are eating quietly and we stop just long enough to take some pictures and then continue.

At the end of the Kgama Drive we take the Kubu Drive to the South, we stop at a couple of lookouts to see the Lengau Dam and the animals from another perspective and to take some photos then we do an U turn and, still along the Kubu Drive, we head to the North.

At some point in the distance we see two ears waving and some reddish sand being thrown into the air, there are undoubtedly elephants and in fact we see a small herd in the distance, with our binoculars we can see them very well.

Shortly afterwards, lying down and hiding behind some bushes we see a white rhino, even if it is not standing we can distinguish it perfectly from the black rhino, immediately after we notice that it is not alone, behind other bushes we see gray shapes and ears that move incessantly; this behavior is typical of rhinos that, having poor eyesight, can count on their hearing to perceive the dangers and therefore constantly move their ears to better hear what is happening around them.

Wow this safari in the Pilanesberg National Park, even if only half a day, started in the best way.

At some point we take the detour to the Mankwe Way; at the Baubung gate it was marked that here today they saw a leopard, who knows in the meantime where it went to hide but we try the same, also this road is very scenic and runs along some very scenic hills on one side and the bed of a river on the other.

south africa Pilanesberg exploringafrica SafariADV

Obviously there is not even a shadow of the leopard, on the other hand we see other giraffes, different wildebeests and a family of warthogs.

We decide to stop and then take the detour to the Fish Eagle picnic area; the road is short but it runs along the slope of a hill where there are some beautiful and gigantic euphorbias and, here and there, there are also some kudus busy eating.

Arrived at the picnic area we are intoxicated by the scent of braai of a group of boys, the temptation to scrounge them a sausage was very strong; instead we sit at a table and drink something fresh while admiring the view and having lunch.

Then we continue our safari and take the Motlobo Drive that leads to Tshwene Drive, the latter being one of the main roads of the Pilanesberg National Park, that connects Kubu Drive and the Manyane Gate, where our campsite is located where we will spend two nights.

But it is still early to go to the campsite, so we turn left and take the Hippo Loop that reaches the shores of the Mankwe Dam, the largest permanent mirror of water in the entire park.

We see several hippos, some giraffes on the shore of the lake trying to drink, overcoming the fear of being caught by a predator, on the beach we also see some crocodiles; in a puddle we see different water birds like the African spoonbills, the cormorants and the herons, it is a very beautiful scene.

While we enjoy this show we see in the distance a gray shape, it is undoubtedly another rhino, but from here it is a bit far to see it well; we look at the map of the park and we see that if we go to get the Letsha we probably get closer and we can see it better.

We find it a bit hard to find the best spot to see it because there are several shrubs and bushes but in the end we position ourselves and wait; the rhino is behind the bushes but, from the shape of the ears, we can understand that it is a black rhino.

We wait a while with the engine of the car turned off so as not to annoy it and, after a while, it gets out of the bushes and we manage to take some shots before it disappears again; we go away, we prefer not to risk disturbing it, but we are very happy to have seen it.

south africa Pilanesberg exploringafrica SafariADV

We decide it is time to take the Tshwene Drive that will get us to our campsite; this track is still very interesting and we proceed slowly.

We see some giraffes that are eating from some trees and, when we stop to look at them, they look at us curiously, they are too funny sometimes.

We proceed and we see two cars stopped and, from the tall grass that is on the roadside, comes an unmistakable noise: they are lions that roar like when they compete for a prey!

One of the two cars tells us that some lions crossed the street while they were chasing a prey, an impala that apparently did not make a good end; it all happened so fast that they barely understood what was happening.

We hear their roars distinctly but we can't see anything, the grass is too high, it exceeds our car; the occupants of one of the two cars get on the roof to try to see something, besides being a not very prudent (and forbidden) behavior, it didn't help, the vegetation is too thick.

Honestly it was a bit frustrating to have lions with prey just a few meters away and not being able to see them, but sightings are also the result of luck, or misfortune as in this case; nothing can be done about it.

We continue towards the campsite while the sun begins to descend towards the horizon, the Manyane Resort, where our campsite is also located, is placed in a sort of buffer zone between the Manyane Gate, that is the entrance gate to the park, and the Bosele Gate, that in fact divides the area of ​​the Manyane Resort from the rest of the park.

We go to the reception to check in and then we enter the campsite, it looks new and there is a lot of space, we choose a pitch and we position ourselves; we will stay here for two nights.

south africa Pilanesberg exploringafrica SafariADV

Data di inserimento: 
Monday, November 4, 2019