Africa Wild

We left the lions and headed to Mankwe Dam.

The new hide has been rebuilt after being destroyed by fire.


The official opening is tomorrow so I presume these people were finishing off.


We carried along Kgabo Drive and came across a roadblock....park officials had stopped a presumably suspicious vehicle and were checking it out, and were also stopping other random vehicles and checking entry forms. We actually saw many park official vehicles the whole day, keeping an eye on tourists, which was impressive.

Next up some giraffe, which had Ash oohing and aahing as they are her favourite.


There were lots lying down.


Another first...a Water Thick-knee. Looking at the Challenge it seems that these are quite rare in Pilanesberg.


We were now keen to find elephant and we asked an OSV driver if they had seen any. He told us our best chance was to head towards Bakubang, so off we went.

Maybe SP can learn a few things from them

Although most of the roads are in a terrible condition! The tar roads are full of potholes and many of the sand roads have big ditches where they have been washed away by rain.

After the big fires, they had last year, or is it two years ago they will have to do a thing at a time. They have started with the hide, maybe the roads are the next on the list

Nice panoramic pic of the hide and lovely giraffes

Is Pilanesberg now owned by the province or did nothing come out of it? I don't remember how it ended up

I salute people whose favourites are not cats... But I'll still stick to my cheetahs

Well done on the thick-knee, seeing it is a good find in P-berg

Fantastic bird sightings and shots, Flutterby,

love the shaft-tailed whydah and I love all the grassland with all the antelopes - Sigh

and you even saw lions maybe not the best sighting but amazing to have spotted them

Very informative, Flutts!

Quite a long trek along that walkway to the hide!


The place looks lovely, and yes, ironic how you see a rhino and then regular staff checking random vehicles...the way to go!

Lisbeth wrote: ↑Thu Jan 09, 2020 9:54 am After the big fires, they had last year, or is it two years ago they will have to do a thing at a time. They have started with the hide, maybe the roads are the next on the list

Nice panoramic pic of the hide and lovely giraffes

Is Pilanesberg now owned by the province or did nothing come out of it? I don't remember how it ended up

Their roads have always been a problem and something they can't seem to sort out! As far as I know it's owned by the province, but not sure.

Mel wrote: ↑Thu Jan 09, 2020 7:37 pm I salute people whose favourites are not cats... But I'll still stick to my cheetahs

Well done on the thick-knee, seeing it is a good find in P-berg

I agree Mel...cats are still my favourites. Thanks.

Pumbaa wrote: ↑Thu Jan 09, 2020 10:16 pm Fantastic bird sightings and shots, Flutterby,

love the shaft-tailed whydah and I love all the grassland with all the antelopes - Sigh

and you even saw lions maybe not the best sighting but amazing to have spotted them

Thanks Pumbaa...we had some nice bird sightings and lots of general game.

Richprins wrote: ↑Fri Jan 10, 2020 8:18 am Very informative, Flutts!

Quite a long trek along that walkway to the hide!


The place looks lovely, and yes, ironic how you see a rhino and then regular staff checking random vehicles...the way to go!

The original hide also had a long walkway....gave you the opportunity to see lots of birds.

As we got closer to Bakubang we found our ellies! There were two large breeding herds within a few hundred metres of each other but the bush was very thick.


I suggested to Ash that we carry on to Lengau Dam. Being so hot I was sure there would be more around there and I was right. There were 5 bulls in the dam having an absolute ball!!


Ash had never seen elephants playing in water before so she was thrilled!

Nice way for them to cool down