Pilanesberg National Park and Game Reserve is set in the crater of an extinct volcano in the North West Province of South Africa. On this map of the province, you can see Johannesburg and Pretoria on the lower right, with the Botswana border in the upper left.
My friend Ryan's parents live near Pilanesberg and run a small game farm there. We flew to Joburg on Sunday morning to spend some time with Ryan's family and also see the wild animals that roam in Pilanesberg and also live in various sanctuaries in the area. Pilanesberg is the fourth largest national park in South Africa, and also home to the country's "big five" - elephant, leopard, rhinoceros, lion, and buffalo. Other than the leopard, we saw all of them on our trip - not all of them in Pilanesberg, though.
Below are pictures from our drive through Pilanesberg Game Reserve. Ryan had seen all the animals before, but every one we spotted was a huge thrill for me. There was a good bit of gasping and pointing from my side of the car. It was such a beautiful and serene place with these sudden bursts of life - giraffes reaching up through the treetops, impala dancing across the road, and elephants lumbering off in the distance. It was amazing.
Tomorrow I'll post about the rest of our trip - lions, tigers, and elephants!
Rhinoceros!
Wildebeest!
Zebras!
Impala!
Warthogs!
Giraffe! Giraffe!
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