Pilanesberg National Park

My last full day in Africa, I had planned to go to Kruger National Park. I had found a 1 day trip that picked up in Johannesburg and I’d paid over the internet. Around 7:30pm the night before, someone from the company contacted me and informed me that they wouldn’t pick me up at my hostel due to problems in the area and I needed to pick another pick up location. Pick up was at 5am and getting up even earlier in hopes I could get an Uber to another location was ridiculous. I emailed the company back and requested to cancel as another pick up location wasn’t practical. I waited around 30 minutes but never received confirmation. I went down to the check in desk at my hostel and discussed the situation with the girl behind the desk. She contacted the company by phone for me and confirmed that they would be willing to refund the pre-paid tour. She then contacted another tour agency and booked me a trip to Pilanesberg National Park instead. I’d discussed my one day trip to Kruger with them previously and I knew none of the companies they worked with did one day tours to Kruger. But, all the companies they worked with would pick up there, so that guarantee at 8pm the night before was important. Plus Pilanesberg NP was about half the price. Its also the fourth largest National Park in South Africa and because it was closer, there would be more time on the game drive. I still wanted a leopard and a white rhino and this was my last shot before leaving Africa.

Much of the game drive was very similar to my previous experiences. This was my seventh game drive in Africa and everyone else’s first. It was fun watching them experience their first impalas and first zebras and first elephants. I took a few shots along the way but I was really looking for new things. While everyone else was shooting wildebeest, I was taking the opportunity to shoot a little bird. Actually I got a number of unique birds on this trip.

The first major thing of interest happened when we were driving up a hill and came across a large male elephant in musk (heat). He was leaking bodily fluids down the back of his legs (the sure sign that he’s horny and most likely cranky). Our guide informed us of previous negative encounters with elephants in musk (they tend to challenge big trucks and will often turn them over) so we decided to give him space. We needed to get to the other side of the hill but we needed him out of our way first. Or guide drove backwards a few yards at a time as he came towards us. The elephant continued towards us showing signs of aggression for close to a mile before he decided to wander off into the bush. Sadly, when we drove past and got to the top of the hill, we got an excellent view of a mother/baby herd of elephants on the neighboring hill! The poor boy was on the wrong hill...no female love where he was hanging out.

The guide informed us that he’d seen a leopard kill something the day before and he was hoping that the leopard would be hanging out close to the kill today (as they will take multiple days to eat a large prey animal). He was correct, the leopard was sleeping under a tree close to the road and close to the original kill sight. There was lots of shrubbery blocking our view but we were able to get a few reasonable photos out of it. 

After leaving the leopard, we headed back to the park restaurant where we were stopping for lunch. Before we got to the parking lot, we hit a major traffic jam. A dozen cars were stopped in front of the restaurant. There was some discussion on whether there was an accident or was there something to see. We focused in on the mountain across from the restaurant. The first thing I saw was running zebras...then right behind them A LION! Those zebras got away for the time being and the lion headed in another direction. It was a good distance away and it was hard to see and I eventually lost the lion. The guide finally spotted the whole pride around a tree. I saw the two directly under the tree,

but he kept seeing more. When lions don’t move, they blend in really well with their environment. We waited to see what would happen as the drama was long from over. The two I could see under a tree were paying very close attention as one of the zebras (who wasn’t very smart) started walking back up the hill...directly to the lions. The lions sat still as statues watching for the zebra to get closer. All at once, those two lions charged and the rest of the pride came out of no where and they all started after the zebra. The drama didn’t last long after that. The zebra ran like hell over the ridge of the mountain onto the other side and a dozen lioness and youngsters followed. Maybe they got dinner, maybe they didn’t...it all ended on the other side of the mountain. But I got a few good shots. Without my super duper super zoom lens, I wouldn’t have been able to get anything it was seriously far away.

Finally, on the way out of the park, as the guide was apologizing for not finding any white rhinos...he found a rhino butt. Just the rhino butt, I can’t tell if its a white or black rhino based on the butt, however he was very sure it was a white. He may lied, but I was pretty happy with the idea that I may have seen a white on my last game drive.

I had a hard time justifying another game drive as they aren’t cheap and I’d already done six. But it was totally worth it. Each national park is different and every day offers something new. Guides try really hard to give guests a positive experience, but they also all tell us in the beginning that this isn’t a zoo and they can’t control nature. All in all, I had a great experience in every park I had and I don’t regret a single experience.