Stuart is an award-winning travel journalist covering safari, trekking and conservation in Kenya and Tanzania for the Lonely Planet, Rough Guides, BBC, Bradt Travel Guides, amongst many others. He is the author of Walking With The Maasai, a journey through some of Kenya's lesser-visited Maasai lands.
Pilanesberg National Park

Pilanesberg is safari made easy. If the traffic is in your favour, then you can get from Johannesburg to the gates of this small park in just two hours. This means that Pilanesberg is very popular with South Africans and its tourist facilities are very well developed. There’s a good range of accommodation in all budget categories, it’s malaria-free and the park’s small size makes it a good family destination. However, purists might say that Pilanesberg is too well developed. Some of the roads are surfaced and there can be congestion at some of the animal sightings, which means that sense of wilderness can be lost.
However, you can’t argue with the quality of wildlife. All the Big Five are here and the park is especially good for rhino and elephant. You also have a better than average chance of spying some wild dogs and the list of birds is impressive with at least 350 different species recorded.
At a glance
Destinations
Pilanesberg National Park
Activity
SafariPhysical Level
Easy
Season
January - December
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