The Pilansberg National Park (sometimes also called Pilanesberg Game Reserve) is located just a few kilometres from Sun City in South Africa. It is known for its beautiful landscape and ideal, if you are staying near Johannesburg and do not have time to go to the Kruger National Park.
Getting there
By car
Take the N4 or R24 when coming from Gauteng (Pretoria or Johannesburg). From Rustenburg take the R565 when going to Bakubung Gate or the R510 when going to Manyane Gate.
Gate opening times are as follows:
April-August - Open 6AM, close 6.30PM
September-March - Open 5AM, close 7PM
Entry is R15 per vehicle and an additional R20 per person.
By plane
The airport of Pilansberg/Sun City is not far away. There are daily flights to Johannesburg with South African Airways and connections to Cape Town are planned.
Traveling around
Drive around in your own car. Most of the roads in Pilanesberg are dirt roads, but are in good condition and can be utilised by ordinary passenger vehicles.
There are a number of bird hides and picnic spots scattered around the park, where visitors can get out and have a relaxed lunch or just sight-see.
See
The park is very good for seeing many different animals, including the Big Five (lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, buffallo). There are a number of giraffes, hippopotamus, cheetahs, antelopes and countless birds. Bird watching is excellent with over 300 species recorded. Some are migrants, others permanent inhabitants; some eat carrion or live prey, others eat seeds, fruit or tiny water organisms.
There is a self-guided trail in the Walking Area at Manyane Complex in the east, which offers environmental education whilst enjoying game viewing and bird watching on foot. Also at Manyane is a walk-in aviary with over 80 species of indigenous birds.
Eat
Many of the resorts, including Sun City, have good restaurants.
However, nothing is better than enjoying a typical South African barbecue outside under the stars.
Sleep
Accommodation ranges from upmarket lodges to rustic self-catering, tented camps. The camps in the park are: Kwa Maritane, Tshukudu, Bakubung, Manyane Camp, Bakgatla Camp.
Kwamaritane, 0145525100, NIce place to sleep @
Bakubung, 0145526000
Stay healthy
Pilanesberg National Park is in a malaria-free area.
Get out
Right near the park is Sun City which has plenty of other recreational activities (water slides, wave pool, gambling, cinema, restaurants).
There is also a Crocodile Farm just outside the entrance to Sun City.
Contact & location
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The photos displayed on this page are the property of one of the following authors:
The Pilansberg National Park (sometimes also called Pilanesberg Game Reserve) is located just a few kilometres from Sun City in South Africa. It is known for its beautiful landscape and ideal, if you are staying near Johannesburg and do not have time to go to the Kruger National Park.
Getting there
By car
Take the N4 or R24 when coming from Gauteng (Pretoria or Johannesburg). From Rustenburg take the R565 when going to Bakubung Gate or the R510 when going to Manyane Gate.
Gate opening times are as follows:
April-August - Open 6AM, close 6.30PM
September-March - Open 5AM, close 7PM
Entry is R15 per vehicle and an additional R20 per person.
By plane
The airport of Pilansberg/Sun City is not far away. There are daily flights to Johannesburg with South African Airways and connections to Cape Town are planned.
Traveling around
Drive around in your own car. Most of the roads in Pilanesberg are dirt roads, but are in good condition and can be utilised by ordinary passenger vehicles.
There are a number of bird hides and picnic spots scattered around the park, where visitors can get out and have a relaxed lunch or just sight-see.
See
The park is very good for seeing many different animals, including the Big Five (lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, buffallo). There are a number of giraffes, hippopotamus, cheetahs, antelopes and countless birds. Bird watching is excellent with over 300 species recorded. Some are migrants, others permanent inhabitants; some eat carrion or live prey, others eat seeds, fruit or tiny water organisms.
There is a self-guided trail in the Walking Area at Manyane Complex in the east, which offers environmental education whilst enjoying game viewing and bird watching on foot. Also at Manyane is a walk-in aviary with over 80 species of indigenous birds.
Eat
Many of the resorts, including Sun City, have good restaurants.
However, nothing is better than enjoying a typical South African barbecue outside under the stars.
Sleep
Accommodation ranges from upmarket lodges to rustic self-catering, tented camps. The camps in the park are: Kwa Maritane, Tshukudu, Bakubung, Manyane Camp, Bakgatla Camp.
Kwamaritane, 0145525100, NIce place to sleep @
Bakubung, 0145526000
Stay healthy
Pilanesberg National Park is in a malaria-free area.
Get out
Right near the park is Sun City which has plenty of other recreational activities (water slides, wave pool, gambling, cinema, restaurants).
There is also a Crocodile Farm just outside the entrance to Sun City.
Contact & location
Be the first one to add a review
The photos displayed on this page are the property of one of the following authors:
name_24305, name_7445
Some photos courtesy of:
. The photos provided by Flickr are under the copyright of their owners.
This travel guide also includes text from Wikitravel articles, all available at
View full credits
Inas, Mart, Wikus du Toit, Nick Roux, Todd VerBeek, Ravikiran Rao, Paul Sainsbury and Felix Gottwald, Jola
This travel guide also includes text from Wikipedia articles, all available at
View full credits