Pilanesberg Game Reserve

The hide is fantastic for birding!

Amazing--surpassed expectations!

What can I say but wow! Jacque, our guide was determined to show us as many animals and he succeeded. He was so helpful and knowledgeable that he really made our safari all the better. The accomodations were so comfortable, the food delicious and the service impeccable!

No off road, lot of people due to Sun City proximity

Amazing!

Terrific time. The variety of animals seen was beyond our expectations. Reviews that suggest this reserve is limited were off. This was a great experience.

A little too commercial for my liking. But the surroundings are great.

It is well situated not far from Johannesburg with very high standard accommodation all round the park. It is also situated not far from the Sun City complex which in its self is nice too visit for a stop over.

It is a much smaller park than Kruger, so the animals are more confined and easier to spot, especially if your time there is limited.

Pilanesberg

I visited the Pilanesberg in September 2014, for a long weekend. We stayed in the Madikwe facility. The accommodation is satisfactory. We hired a 4 sleeper unit. I slept in the "upstairs" bedroom. The layout of the units does not allow beds to be pushed against the wall, which I did not like and the beds were not particularly comfortable. We ate at the camps restaurant. The food was adequate, but they could not produce all the items on the menu and were slow to deliver food. Breakfast at Bakubang was good. The units cooking facilities were good, with a barbeque and other cooking facililities.

From a wildlife perspective, we were fortunate to see a number of animals including rhino. The dam had a number of animals and provided for some good photo oppurtunities. We saw several animals over a period of a few hours, and had plenty of photo opportunities. The range of animals is pretty diverse. The park has reasonable flora. Good views over the lands from some of the higher elevations of the park.

The reserve became pretty full during the mid-morning and their were a significant number of vehicles in the park. The roads are mostly good.

The park is conveniently located being an hour and a halfs drive from Pretoria and Johannesburg. The park is close to Sun City and Rustenburg.

My view is that for a short visit of two days the park is certainly worth visiting, if you are in that part of the work.

Safari near Johannesburg

Me and a friend stayed at Kwa Moritaine for a weekend and enjoyed two safari rides, one morning ride (with the sunset) and one during daytime. If you only have time for one safari join the morning one. The mornings is the best time to spot the animals. Except for leopard we saw all the "big five" in addition to lots of other antelopes, zebras. Our guide was very talented and knowledgeable. He could answer any question we threw at him.

The highlights of the safari was seeing lions in the wild (2 adult, 4 cubs) and a one day old elephant calf. This experience was priceless!

As for the accomodation Kwa Moritaine was a beautiful resort with excellent food and great service. Can absolutely recommend.

A beautiful, natural, open park with many opportunities to see a wide variety of wildlife and nature

My trip to Pilanesberg was wonderful! I was staying in Johannesburg for a few days and decided to drive to the park for a full day and a half of wildlife enjoyment. The weather was great! I stayed with a family after booking a property on airbnb. It was fun and a much better way to check out the area than staying in one of the hotels. I did not book a guide because I am a much bigger fan of self guided tours, which Pilanesberg is very easy to do on one's own. My car was a simple rental which served the purpose perfectly. I brought my own food with me and I would recommend doing the same.

I took many pictures while I was there, some of which required a few hours wait for the exact moment that I wanted to capture. This would have been impossible in a group. I saw all of the large animals that the park is known for including Lions, Hippos, Giraffes, Elephants and many many more. This was a gorgeous park and I would recommend going there.