Pilanesberg Safari Day Trip: 2 hours from Joburg
Pilanesberg is an exciting day trip safari from Joburg, as it’s just two hours outside of the city. All you need to do is wake up early and roll into the car with the South African Wanderer, Pranesh!
The Basics
- Full day activity 4am-6pm
- All-inclusive
- Private tour
- R2100 pp
- Book directly with Pranesh by email (southafricanwanderer@gmail.com) or WhatsApp (+27836937710)
Pilanesberg National Park’s History
The fourth-largest park in South Africa, Pilanesberg is the site of a crater of a volcano that erupted 1300 million years ago. Pilanesberg was originally owned by local tribes, became farmland, and eventually was opened as the park we know today in 1979. The area is ancient and there are Stone Age and Iron Age sites around the reserve.
According to Wikipedia, Pilanesberg is named for Chief Pilane of the Kgafêla people, who ruled the area during the 1800s.
Read about the park here.
Animals inside Pilanesberg
Pilanesberg is home to the Big Five: lion, elephant, rhinoceros, buffalo, and leopard. With over 7,000 animals inside the park, you’re bound to see much more. Perhaps you’ll see a cheetah, the African wild cat, caracal, serval, jackal, bat-eared fox, brown hyena, and the nocturnal aardwolf.
Additionally, a Pilanesberg safari wouldn’t be complete without seeing the varied species of antelope, including the waterbuck, springbok, impala, red hartebeest, and the kudu.
Pilanesberg is also a birding paradise with over 280 species recorded in the park.
Realistic Safari Expectations
Your game drive is mostly up to if the animals feel like being around the road or not to be honest. On the day we visited, many of the animals were in the distance. But that’s just how the cookie crumbles sometimes.
To see as many animals as possible, I would recommend spending two nights at a lodge so you get 3 game drives. That would give you the greatest range to see as many animals as possible. That said, you can get lucky at Pilanesberg! Oftentimes people see even more than one leopard in one day, herds of elephants, and lions. It’s nature, people.
When to visit Pilanesberg for a safari
The best time to visit Pilanesberg is July to October, which is late winter to early summer, for two reasons. The first is that there is less water in the winter months and animals congregate around watering holes. Second, there is less greenery and grass in the winter months and so it is easier to spot animals. In late February, you may get lucky and witness part of the mating season.
What does the tour include?
With the South African Wanderer, you will have your entire tour private and all-inclusive. Pranesh does all the driving and is a registered guide. He has extensive knowledge about the terrain, plants, animals, and insects of Pilanesberg. Drinks, meals, and your entrance fee are all included.
The Food
You will have breakfast and lunch as well as several snacks available. There was so much variety for the drinks: teas, different coffee flavors, juices, and water.
The Ride
For smaller groups, you will ride in the cool South African Wanderer car. Fun fact: I actually met Pranesh because of his car. We were both staying at a lodge outside of Kruger National Park and I noticed his cool car in the parking lot. I followed him on Instagram and baam! We got to chit-chatting.
If your group is more than four people, Pranesh will organize a larger vehicle for your group.
Breaks
Considering that you’ll be spending all day in a car, I think breaks are a vital part of the Pilanesberg safari experience. With the South African Wanderer, all the breaks are perfectly timed. Each time I felt like I needed to use the bathroom or wanted a snack or a drink, Pranesh would announce that we would have a break soon.
Because this is a park that includes predators, you can’t get out of the car unless you’re at designated spots around the park.
The Pilanesberg Safari Day Trip
The day is gonna start out with darkness. Why? Because you’ll get picked up around 4:30am from your home or lodge to start this adventure! You can either sleep or chat to Pranesh on your two-hour drive to Pilanesberg.
Pilanesberg Entrance
The first stop is at the entrance of Pilanesberg around 6am. Because the tour is all-inclusive, Pranesh pays the entrance fees while you have the chance to use the bathroom and have a drink. Joining me on the trip was my friend Joyce and we had rusks, tea, and coffee before we set on the road again inside the park.
Pranesh provided a geological background and history of the park. The park itself is a beautiful landscape.
Our route took us journeying through several different areas of this large park, stopping each time we saw something interesting. Pranesh is part of the Pilanesberg wildlife sighting WhatsApp group and although there is limited cell signal inside the park, he would check often to make sure that we weren’t missing anything anyone else had seen.
Breakfast on your Pilanesberg Safari
Your second stop will be for breakfast around 8am with a view over one of the two dams inside Pilanesberg. Pranesh had brought a gas cooker and we had an excellent breakfast of butter and thyme mushrooms with soft scrambled eggs and bread. Boerewors are also available for non-veg folk. The mushrooms are absolutely amazing and there was enough food for two breakfast sandwiches each. I also had another cup of coffee…
The whole setup was cute at the picnic area with the view over the dam.
While Pranesh was setting up, Joyce and I took the opportunity to do a little photoshoot.
Occasionally you can see hippos in the dam in the distance. We weren’t so lucky.
Continuing the Pilanesberg Safari
We spent the next several hours after breakfast wandering through the park. We saw hippos, buffalo, antelope, and several other interesting creatures like a leopard turtle and a black striped jackal.
At one point we were in presence of a leopard and her cubs. There were several cars stopped around a tree (which was actually pretty far away). Even with binoculars and at least 15 minutes of staring, we weren’t able to see anything at all and we decided to move on.
(I took several pictures of the tree and later went back to zoom in to see if I saw the leopard. I thought I made out an outline and freaked out both Pranesh and Joyce, only to realize that it was just a lens flare…awk.)
Pilanesberg Viewpoint
The most stunning viewpoint at the park is at the top of one of the Pilanesberg mountain ridges. The view was absolutely gorgeous and we use this for another coffee break.
Here we saw a hedgehog antelope-like animal called a klipspringer. This is one of the most interesting animals I’ve seen on a safari. Klipspringer translates to “rock jumper” and its fur is like quills (like a hedgehog!).
Pilanesberg Visitor Center
We also visited the Pilanesberg Visitor Center, which is located in the center of the park. Here you can use the bathroom, purchase souvenirs, buy pizza or drinks from the cafe, or visit the convenience shop.
Here is the cafe menu!
There is also a salt block that is placed by the visitor center seating area and antelope come by and lick the salt.
There is also a TV screen with the latest animal sightings, but unfortunately, it wasn’t working when we visited.
The final stops on the Pilanesberg Safari
After the visitor center, we returned to the tree with the sighting of the leopard. However, we still weren’t able to see anything. Just our luck.
The scenery and animals we saw throughout the day were amazing! We had a packed sandwich lunch at a dam near the visitors center.
Here we spotted a HUGE fish eagle.
At 4pm, Pranesh began the drive back to Joburg so that we would reach it by sunset. We had such great conversations so although Joyce and I were so so tired (and we weren’t even the ones driving!) we chatted the whole way back to Joburg!
South African Wanderer Pilanesberg Safari Review
The South African Wanderer’s Pilanesberg safari day trip is amazing because you’re not just getting a tour of Pilanesberg. You will have a personalized experience catered to exactly what you’re interested in (given that the animals cooperate).
As I mentioned, all the breaks were perfectly timed which was a huge point for me. I enjoyed all the snacks and food as well as the drinks. Pranesh’s equipment is top-notch and even after 12 hours in the car, the water was still hot at 4pm for a final cappuccino for our drive back to Joburg.
Pranesh often visits this park and is aware of the best locations to see animals. A note that we visited during the summer right after a bunch of rain around Gauteng. The grass was high and hindered our sightings a bit. For example, we saw several rhinos but never got a really great shot just because they were in the tall grass.
We covered a large area of the park on our Pilanesberg safari. Besides the animals, the scenery was beautiful and we had a super fun Saturday. When you go on a tour with the South African Wanderer you are also gonna make a great friend along the way!
Besides the Pilanesberg Safari, the South African Wanderer also does a tour for the Amphitheater Tugela Falls Hike. You can customize your safari tour to be more of a birding adventure as well.
Book directly with Pranesh by email (southafricanwanderer@gmail.com) or WhatsApp (+27836937710) for promotions and group rates.
Check out the South African Wanderer’s website here.
Visiting Pilanesberg on your own
You can visit Pilanesberg on your own and the entrance fee is affordable.
Most of the roads we went on were generally okay for self-driving. However, there were several large potholes, dips, and mud that would make me personally nervous to drive here. If you have a 4×4 and know how to use it, you likely won’t have any problems at all. We also saw a couple of sedans rolling through Pilanesberg and I assume they managed to make it out of the park.
Entrance fees (2022):
- Adults: R80
- Adults Foreign Nationals: R110
- Children (6-12 yrs): R30
- Pensioners (SA only): R40
- Vehicles (Sedan/LDV/SUV): R40
Opening times:
- March and April: 6am- 6:30pm
- May to September: 6:30am-6pm
- September and October: 6am-6:30pm
- November to February: 5:30am-7pm
Check the latest fees and hours here.
Visited: April 2022