Pilanesberg National Park is the Best game
Reserve near Johannesburg to do a day safari.
Pilanesberg Game reserve is A mere 2½ - 3 hours drive fromJohannesburg.
Home of the Big5 animals
Pilanesberg Game reserve was established in 1979 and was declared a national park in 1984. It is widely accepted that it was the first protected area in Africa to be developed not only for conservation purposes, but also with the
specific intent of generating socio-economic benefits
The total area of Pilanesberg National Park is approximately 59,000
hectares and the home of Lion, Buffalo, Leopard, Elephant, Rhino and
antelopes
The Pilanesberg Safari is a early departure from your address. 07h00.
You will be picked up by your driver guide in a min bus and transferred to
Pilanesberg where you will enter the park.
You will drive towards Hartebeespoort dam and enjoy the beautiful
country side and mountains, Pas Hartebeespoort dam and on our way we stop at the Dam Wall, where we can
take photos of the beautiful scenery.
Continue with our journey and stop for a break at a local filling station. Here
you can buy soft drinks and refreshments
We continue our journey to Pilanesberg and duration is one hour.
As we arrive at the park, we start our safari with our own vehicle to spot the
Big Five animals
At noon we will stop at the Pilanesberg center for a light lunch.
Some times you are lucky and can then spot animals drinking water from the nearby water
hole while you are enjoying your lunch
After lunch we will continue to spot the Big five
We will leave the park at 16h00 and expect to be in Johannesburg at about 18h30
End of a wonderful and exciting day out in nature.
Full Day Pilanesberg Safari
R2000.00 per person 2 - 3 / Persons. R1800.00 per person 4-7 people.
Entrance fees to the park included
Lunch for own account.
Single Person R3500.00.
Safari is with our closed vehicle
You can do the Pilanesberg Safari in the morning and after lunch depart to Sun City
The cost for the Pilanesberg Safari and Sun City R2200.00 per person. 2 - 3 persons
4 -7 Persons R1900.00 .
Lunch for own account. Single person R3,500.00.
Lunch for own account
SUN CITY
Situated in the Bush veld of South Africa's North West Province
and surrounded by the imposing mountains of the Pilanesberg - draws thousands of
visitors each year to its four top-quality hotels, magnificent sporting and
recreational facilities including 2 world class golf courses, and the magical
Lost City water-park, The Valley of Waves. Sun City has dazzled the
international community with its glamorous casinos, gourmet restaurants,
extensive sports facilities and star-studded spectaculars
PILANESBERG NATIONAL PARK HISTORY
In a single decade , the Pilanesberg emerged as a leading wildlife destination. Pilanesberg National Park remains the largest and most accessible reserve within a two-hour drive from Johannesburg , the economic hub of South Africa.
Construction of the perimeter game fence began in 1979. Dams, gravel roads and game viewing hides were constructed . The police station and staff houses were removed at the Pilanesberg magistrates quarters . Construction of the Manyane complex , which is one of the best planned and most popular rest camps in South Africa, commends in 1985.
The rough topography required ingenious construction skills to contain dangerous animals . The old courthouse , built in 1936, was converted into the ever-popular day visitor restaurant , curio shop and game-viewing deck that is known as the Pilanesberg Centre today .
As the tourism numbers grew, private concessionaires were contracted to develop game lodges . Tourism development sites were identified along the periphery of the reserve's biodiversity and aesthetic value .
The Pilanesberg was thus transformed in a single decade from being a scenic crater inhabited by cattle and the odd baboon troop , to one of the leading wildlife destinations in South Africa.
PILANESBERG NATIONAL PARK - EARLY INHABITANTS
Pilanesberg History started as early as 1969 and the potential of a conservation project was identified . in 1973 further recommendations were made to the Bakgatla leadership and the Bophuthatswana government in 1977.
The white farmers of Pilanesberg were expropriated by the nationalist government during the early 1960' as part of a plan to make more land available for settlement of Batswana people .
However , not all farms were occupied by white farmers and certain properties within the boundaries of what is today called Pilanesberg were still owned and occupied by the Bakgatla people .
it was agreed that the areas occupied by the Bakgatla were to be vacated so that most of the crater complex could be included in the park .
Pilanesberg National Park early inhabitants . During the latter iron age period , the ancestors of the Batswana and Basotho people occupied the area . They were cattle farmers and pastoralists who also worked copper and iron .
The Marothodi archaeological site, 10 kilometre to the west of Pilanesberg , is a remnant from this area . Marothodi ( meaning raindrops) was the capital of a Batlokwa chiefdom . it is believed that the occupants of Marothodi had Nguni origins but that they became Tswana -ised as the style and structure of their own town was typical of Basotho -Batswana settlements of the time within the region .
PILANESBERG NATIONAL PARK - BOER SETTLERS
The Voortrekkers during the 1840' continued to settle the land with many of the former Batswana inhabitants returning to the land . Those who remained worked on the Boer farms as labourers. Many of the Tswana were disgruntled with the Boers occupying their ancestral lands and opted to move elsewhere .
Despite this , they fought alongside the Boers to fend off attempts by Mzilikazi to return to this land .
By 1849 all the land had been allocated , and Batswana groups wanting to return could only resettle if they were prepared to buy back their ancestral land from the Boers .
By the 1850's the Magaliesberg to the south was well establish as a farming area . Although Pilanesberg was initially mainly farmed with cattle , many of the fertile valleys were planted with citrus trees and annual crops .
As farmers in the Cape Colony became disgruntled with British rule , Voortrekkers began trekking away from the colony as far as the Magaliesburg, where they were effectively held at bay by Mzilikazi , who did not hesitate to attack anyone crossing the Vaalriver . After the successful voortrekker battle against a large Ndebele army at Mosega in 1836, the Zulu in 1837 courageously fought a major battle against the Ndebele directly west of Pilanesberg , where the Ndebele yoke was substantially broken .
These 2 defeats encourage further attacks on the Ndebele by the Griqua, the Voortrekkers and the Tswana, eventually driving the Ndebele across the Limpopo river to the north , where they founded the settlement of Bulawayo in present day Zimbabwe.
