Going on a safari and spotting the Big Five usually tops almost everyone’s must do list when they think of South Africa. I love wildlife and am addicted to watching shows on Discovery and Animal Planet that show animals in the wilderness and how they live and hunt. When our trip was being planned, the only thing I cared about was whether we were going on a safari or not. I had heard and read so much about Kruger National Park that I insisted that we should go there for sure, but to my dismay our itinerary was already set to visit the Pilanesberg National Park due to scheduling reasons. We were visiting only for 9 days and our group wanted enough days for Cape Town and the Garden Route.
Finally, it was the day to start our 14 hour flight from JFK Airport to Johannesburg. We arrived at JFK Airport well in time for our South African Airways flight and while checking in, we were told that we needed to show the birth certificate for our minor son; which was a first! Apparently the airlines flying to and from and the immigration authorities in South Africa ask you to furnish the minor’s birth certificate. We had to jump through some hoops to finally get onboard. The immigration at Johannesburg Airport went pretty smoothly and we headed straight to Sun City. We had already booked a van in advance to drive us from Johannesburg Airport to Sun City and the two hour drive was pretty smooth. We would have loved to spend time in Johannesburg but there were too many concerns about safety that our group grappled with while planning the trip. While caution is certainly required, there is no reason to not visit any part of this beautiful country.
It was extremely crowded at the Sun City resort since we arrived on a Saturday and a lot of day visitors come to spend the day or the weekend at the resort. There are four hotels at the Sun City Resort – Palace of the Lost City, Cabanas, Cascades and Soho Hotel. The resort has a lot of fun activities for all age groups. There is a Casino at the SoHo hotel for those who like to gamble. There are some really good restaurants and a big food court at the Sun Central; overall the food is pretty inexpensive. Adjoining the Sun City is the Pilanesberg National Park/Game Reserve where you can go for a half day or full day safari. Pilanesberg National Park is a 55,000 acre reserve compared to the 4.815 million acres Kruger National Park. Even though Kruger is one of the most famous National Parks in South Africa, the locals say that it may take days to spot the lions in Kruger due to the sheer size of the reserve as compared to Pilanesberg.
There are various safari options available to choose from. Different pick up times are available based on your tour and most tours pick you up from the Sun Central bus stop. Our safari tour started at 6am in the morning and everyone was super excited. The first one hour of safari was just us looking left and right trying to spot one of the big fives. We did spot a few rhinoceros grazing around but that was as good as watching them in a zoo. As the drivers of the tour vehicles passed each other, they exchanged information if anyone had spotted something exciting and at what location. They also had walkie-talkies to pass information to each other. Suddenly the excitement kicked in as the information came in that a pride of lions was spotted and they were slowly moving towards the lake. All vehicles started making their way to spot them up close. There was a pride of 8 to 10 of them, two lions, two to three lioness and their cubs. We watched them for about half hour and periodically they would get up and make their way to the next bush.
It was time for us to move on and go spot the leopard. We spotted leopard, impalas and then a bunch of wilderbeast. The wilderbeast crossed the road right in front of our vehicle and the last one seemed to be a bit weak and limping. It crossed my mind that this poor one might sooner or later be a feast to the pride. We headed for a stop at a rest area within the reserve to take a short break.
Having spotted three of the Big Five, we headed back to our chase for the rest. To our surprise, word quickly came on the walkie-talkie that all vehicles were heading towards the lake as the pride of lions were heading there. We arrived just in time and all vehicles lined up to watch the pride hunt the wilderbeasts. It was a sight that is hard to describe when they finally killed one of the wilderbeast; I still believe it was the one that I thought would soon succumb to being hunted earlier. We watched the pride prey on the wilderbeast ripping pieces apart from the big carcass. After feasting, one of the lions got up and walked towards a bush right next to our vehicle with its face and legs all covered with the wilderbeast’s blood. Witnessing the Kill up close was an experience parallel to none!
There are safari enthusiasts that chase lions for days to witness a kill. According to the driver of our vehicle, we were extremely lucky to have witnessed this on our first safari trip and that too within the first few hours. I am glad that we choose Pilanesberg over Kruger as we might have missed out on this experience if we went to Kruger where the sheer size makes it necessary to have a multi-day safari. Heading back to the Sun City, we spotted giraffes, zebras and some more impalas and wilderbeast. In hindsight, the next time we visit to South Africa, I would like to reserve a couple of days for full day safari tours.
Here are some tips –
- Try booking your taxi/cab online prior to your visit and stick with known carriers
- If you plan to stay in Johannesburg, be vigilant and try to avoid bad neighborhoods
- If you want to get the most bang for your buck. we would recommend a minimum of 2 nights and 3 days stay at Sun City; more the merrier
- If you are travelling with a minor, make sure you carry their birth certificate and any supporting documents
- Carry a good DSLR Camera to zoom in and capture some nice pictures of the Big Five in the wilderness
0 Comments