Since grade school, I have always dreamed of visiting Africa. I decided to book a solo trip and reviewed several websites to find the perfect match. I happened upon a company, Adventures for Singles (AFS), who seemed extremely knowledgeable about African Safaris and found an amazing opportunity to visit South Africa and Namibia. Over the next couple of months, I checked the website and finally decided that if they had an opening, I would book the trip. You can imagine my surprise when they had listed room for 1 female, so without hesitation, I booked this amazing vacation and started looking for flights. I was so excited to finally travel to Africa.
August was here and I boarded a flight to South Africa. With some difficulty, I finally arrived, but my luggage was nowhere in sight. After spending a couple of days in Cape Town, I made the flight to Johannesburg and stayed the night at a nearby hotel, The next morning I hired a taxi to arrive at Sunrock Guesthouse where all of the other guests were staying.
At 10AM, we boarded our coach for a 2 1/2 hour ride to Pilanesberg National Park which is located between the Kalahari and Lowveld. Known for sighting the Big 5 (African buffalo, elephants, leopards, lions and rhinoceros), the Kwa Maritane (meaning Place of the Rocks) Private Game Reserve is 55, 000 hectares with over 1000 animals and 300 bird species.
After a final headcount, we were on our way to Pilanesberg to spend a few nights at Kwa Maritane Lodge near Sun City, South Africa.
After a couple of hours and a short break, our driver turned onto a road on the outskirts of the resort. All eyes were looking out the window in hopes of seeing wildlife. Within minutes, excitement from the front of our transport alerted us to an animal sighting. Continuing down the dirt road, we finally caught a glimpse of a large, slow-moving elephant, wandering the brush and parched grass. Seeing this beautiful animal in his own habitat was absolutely thrilling.
Kwa Maritane would be my home as we explored the safari park for the next three days. On arrival, our tour leaders (and owners), Susie and Terry from AFS, provided updated instructions, distributed our room assignments/keys and allowed us to freshen up for a meet and greet in the next hour.
I learned that I would be rooming with Janice and was so excited to meet her. She has been traveling with AFS for several years and was so kind and welcoming. I was looking forward to talking with her about all of her travels.
Located within the Pilanesburg National Park in South Africa, this spacious resort is known for its safari-related activities including game drives and guided bush walks. The property also includes a luxury spa, two swimming pools, fitness center, tennis and an underground Hide for watching animals stop by for a drink at the watering hole without being noticed. This amazing National Park is considered one of South Africa’s most popular game reserves in the country.
Janice and I dropped off our luggage, chose our beds and decided to walk the grounds. Within minutes of our arrival, we noticed load animal noises coming from outside. We guessed that they were monkeys, so we stepped out onto the balcony out of curiosity.
A troop of nearly twelve baboons were rambunctiously chasing each other around the lawn, up the trees and eventually onto the roof of the neighboring set of hotel rooms. This lovely welcoming committee clearly intended to introduce themselves and confirm their position in the hierarchy of primates.
The resort provided us a lovely Welcome Lunch once we were settled in to our rooms and we prepared for an early afternoon safari tour. We boarded the 4×4 safari vehicle with our guide for an early afternoon game drive and bundled up for the late-winter/early-spring adventure. Our knowledgeable guide provided a safety overview and important instructions for a safe, enjoyable safari drive.
Our first sighting included a herd of Impalas. Our safari guide explained that there are over 3,000 impalas within the park and that they refer to this animal as the “McDonald’s of the Bush”. In addition to their abundance as “fast food” for predators, they can easily be identified by the dark, large arched M on their backside. Impalas are diurnal, medium-sized antelopes that travel in three distinct social groups: the territorial males, bachelor male herds and female herds. The adult males are easily identified by their lyre-shaped-horns which grow 18 – 32 inches in length.
The helmeted grouse is one of over 360 species of birds at Pilanesberg. On the eastern side of the park, visitors can participate in self-guided trail for bird watching. In addition to the Walking Area at Manyane, over 80 species of native birds reside in the walk-in aviary.
Driving through the plains, our guide was radioing ahead in hopes of finding nearby wildlife. Signs of spring were evident with budding trees and colors of green. Surrounded by mountains, we learned that the ridges were once a volcanic range which had erupted over 1,200 million years ago. Now extinct, the area is known for its platinum mines.
As the road rounded the curve, there was a beautiful lone blue wildebeest feasting on the savannah. From the antelope family, the male and female wildebeest display horns. There are about 1.5 million blue wildebeests in Africa.
Dusk was approaching as our tour was coming to an end. Several passengers pointed out a pair of giraffes and cheers of excitement poured out of our 4-wheel drive. As our transport rounded the corner, we couldn’t believe how close the statuesque superstars were coming towards us. It was as if they knew they were being photographed and enjoyed the attention.
En route to the resort, we experienced our last animal sighting of the day. Another cheer of excitement rang out as we spotted an African elephant to our right. He went about his business as if not to notice us, but we couldn’t help but stare at him as he ate from a the nearby brush.
The park has close to 250 elephants which reside in either the bush or the forest. The savannah elephants are the largest of the two and each of them are herbivores. Poachers have been known to break into the park to remove the tusks from the elephants which are sold for large sums of money to the Chinese. They believe the ivory invaluable for use to create jewelry, artwork as well as Chinese medicine.
The horror stories we learned from our guide, detailing the grisly manner in which the poachers would remove the tusks was absolutely heartbreaking. The guides explained how they would find the elephants either dead or suffering in critical condition. It brought tears to our eyes to imagine these despicable acts. The park has invested in tighter security spending millions of dollars on surveillance and frequent air patrol in hopes of catching these poachers or scaring them away from the reserve.
Our safari tour was coming to an end as the sun began to set. Escorted back to the resort for some great African cuisines, we were on a safari tour high, excited to have seen so many animals in the wild. I could not have been more pleased on my first safari tour and was looking forward to several more this week.
Have you experienced an African Safari? Where did you go? Pilanesberg? I would love to hear about your experience if you would kindly leave a message in the comments section below. Many thanks for reading about my amazing experience at Pilanesberg and wishing you many exciting adventures.
What to See and What to Do:
Pilanesberg National Park
North West Province, South Africa
Telephone: +27 14 555 1600
Where to Stay:
Kwa Maritane Lodge
Telephone: +27 14 555 1600
Where to Eat:
Kwa Maritane Lodge
Telephone: +27 14 555 1600
What to Eat:
- Biltong: salty dried meat of hamburger or kudu
- Bobotie: meatloaf with raisins
- Boerewors: South African sausage
- Bokkoms: salted, dry fish
- Bunny Chow: a bread bowl, seasoned with curry and topped with meat (sometimes rabbit)
- Chakalaka: spicy South African vegetarian dish served with bread
- Denningvleis: lamb stew with a sweet and sour flavor; one of the most delicious dishes in South Africa
- Gatsby: footlong sandwich topped with fries
- Koeksisters: South African donut
- Malva Pudding: pudding with apricots
- Melktert: sweet milk tarts
- Potjiekos: stew of meat and vegetables
- Pap en Sous: corn pie topped with tomato and onion
- Snoek: type of mackerel
- Peppermint Crisp Tart: dessert made with bread rolls, caramel, chocolate, whipped cream and peppermint chocolate bars
What to Read:
- Out of Africa, by Isak Dinesen
- The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver
- Cry, The Beloved Country, by Alan Paton
- Half of a Yellow Sun, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Born Free, by Joy Adamson
Photo Guide for Pilanesberg:
- Animals on Safari
- Mankwe Way
- Sun City