Pilanesberg Full-Day Safari from Johannesburg

Pilanesberg National Park: a safari inside a volcano

Pilanesberg National Park lies in the North West Province about 180 kilometres from Johannesburg, and its shape is unlike any other reserve in the country: a near-perfect ring of hills marking the rim of a volcano that erupted more than a billion years ago and has since eroded into concentric ridges around a central plain. The park covers about 550 square kilometres of grassland, thornveld and rocky hills in the transition zone between the dry Kalahari and the wetter bushveld, which is why it holds animals from both.

The reserve was created in the late 1970s through one of the largest game relocation programmes ever undertaken, and today all of the Big Five live here, together with giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, cheetah, brown and spotted hyena, hippo, crocodile and a rich birdlife. Pilanesberg is malaria-free, which makes it a popular safari choice for families with small children and for travellers who prefer not to take prophylaxis.

Getting to Pilanesberg from Johannesburg

How to get to Pilanesberg is the first question for most visitors, and the answer is simple: a drive of about two and a half hours from Johannesburg along the highway past Pretoria and through the North West farmland, which our air-conditioned vehicle covers while you doze or watch the sunrise. The pickup is at six in the morning so that you arrive at the park in the mid-morning with most of the day ahead of you, and the return in the late afternoon brings you back to your hotel in the early evening.

Pilanesberg opening hours run from early morning to sunset and change slightly with the seasons; the conservation fee is paid at the gate and is not included in the tour, so bring a card or cash. The park sits next to the resort complex of Sun City, and the main gates, Bakubung and Manyane, lead onto a network of tarred and gravel roads that circle the crater and cross it through the central plain.

Game drives with a ranger in an open vehicle

Inside the park you climb into an open safari vehicle with tiered seats and a canvas roof, driven by a ranger who knows the reserve's roads and its animals. The first game drive heads out across the crater, stopping at every sighting while the ranger explains behaviour, tracks and plants; the second, after lunch, covers a different section of the park, often the wooded valleys on the eastern side or the open plains in the centre, where cheetah are most often seen. Together the drives give you around five hours of game viewing.

Is Pilanesberg good for the Big Five? Yes: lion, elephant and rhino are seen on most days, buffalo often, and leopard with luck, as they prefer the rocky slopes. Sightings are never guaranteed, as these are wild animals in a large reserve, but the ranger uses the radio network and the morning's tracks to make the most of the time. Keep your voice low at sightings, stay seated and bring binoculars.

Mankwe Dam and the heart of the crater

In the centre of the crater lies Mankwe Dam, the largest body of water in the park, with hides on its shore where you can watch hippo, crocodile, waterbuck and herds of elephant coming down to drink, and fish eagles calling from the dead trees. The dam is the natural focus of the game drives and the surrounding plains and thickets are where many of the day's best sightings happen, from giraffe browsing the acacias to lion resting in the shade after a night's hunting.

The light lunch included in the tour is taken at a rest area inside the park, with time for restrooms and a short walk. The best time to visit Pilanesberg is the dry winter, from May to September, when the grass is short and animals gather at the dam and waterholes, though mornings are cold in the open vehicle. Summer, from October to March, brings heat, afternoon thunderstorms, green landscapes and many newborn animals, and the birding is at its best.

A safari day from Johannesburg: what to expect

This is a long day, about twelve hours from pickup to drop-off, with roughly five hours in the park and the rest on the road and at lunch, so comfortable clothes in layers, a hat and sunscreen matter. The group is limited to ten, which keeps the vehicle quiet and gives everyone a seat with a clear view. Children are welcome and the malaria-free status makes Pilanesberg the safest safari choice near Johannesburg for families.

Pilanesberg suits travellers staying in Johannesburg or Pretoria for business or a short stopover who want a genuine Big Five experience without flying to Kruger. For a deeper safari we can also arrange multi-day Kruger trips from Johannesburg, but as a single day, Pilanesberg is hard to beat: a volcanic landscape, the Big Five, a ranger's commentary and dinner back in the city.