March in Pilanesberg

On Friday March 24th we took a preparation day to make up for the previous Saturday and drove to Pilanesberg National Park. We were there in early January and we could see seasonal changes with the grasses starting to brown.  We arrived at the park about 9;15 am and started driving around. Sometimes you can drive for hours without seeing an animal and then see a lot together. On the 24th we saw 40 elephants! 38 of them came into a water hole and salt lick just as we were ready to leave. They came in groups over about a 20 minute period. The other 2 we saw in different places - one at a lake where he was right up against the hide and the other as we were heading for the gate and he stopped traffic. Elephants are unpredictable and can easily turn a car over so when they are on the road, everyone waits. We saw lots of impalas, giraffes, zebras, warthogs, wildebeests and even some rhinos at a distance the first day. There were also some interesting birds.We spent the night at the Kingdom Resort which is about 20 minutes from the gate we use.

Pilanesberg Map

Pilanesberg is an extinct volcano. It was made into a park in 1979. It covers 221 square miles. It was reclaimed from farm land and many animal (6000) were brought to the park in the early 1980's to repopulate the area in a program called "Operation Genesis." 

Green backed Heron

Pied Kingfisher

Warthog

Grey Go Away Bird

Ox peckers on a Giraffe

Elephant next to the Hide at Mankwe Lake

Pilanesberg Center -
 animals at salt lick including giraffe, zebra, impala, kudu

Baby Zebra - isn't he cute!

Elephant on the Road!!!

Elephants at Pilanesberg Center 

Kingdom Resort

On the 25th we left our lodging early and arrived at the Bakubung Gate (the one we use) at 6:15 am. It was just getting light and we took the first dirt road. We saw a rhinoceros near the road and then drove on. Shortly after the rhino we saw 2 black backed jackals running down the road towards us so we stopped to watch them. They veered off before getting near, but a third jackal followed and came right up to our car!   A short time later we ended up being in the middle of a herd of Impala - about 150 of them with only 1 buck, a number of females and lots of young ones. We stayed and watched them mill around our car for at least half an hour. Just after we drove away we saw a mother rhino with a baby next to the road, so we sat in the car until they meandered off. Later we saw some elephants on the road, more impala,  We went some time without seeing any animals. We returned to Johannesburg in the afternoon.
It was a good trip and very nice to get away from the city. We are more grateful for the variety that God created in this beautiful world.

Black-backed Jackal

Impala Buck (the one with the huge herd)

Mother and baby Rhino

Giraffe looking at us