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The Pilanesberg National Park borders on the entertainment complex of Sun City. The park is 55.000 hectares in extent. It is almost perfectly circular because it comprises the area of a 1200 million years old volcano crater with a small lake in the centre. This very scenic terrain lies in the transition zone between Kalahari and Lowveld, and both types of vegetation are found here.

The Pilanesberg National Park was opened in 1979. In the "Operation Genesis", the largest game resettlement project in the history of South Africa, in the early eighties more than 6,000 animals from other parks were settled here. In 1993 lions from the Etosha National Park (Namibia) were introduced to the park, despite grave concerns of the surrounding communities. Since, the lions have been thriving and nicely multiplying in the park. A similar action with cheetahs from Namibia unfortunately failed.

In the Pilanesberg National Park today live virtually all the animal species of southern Africa, including, lions, elephants, white and black rhinos, buffaloes, leopards, zebras, hyenas, giraffes, hippos and crocodiles. Over 300 bird species were counted.

The roads in the park (some 200 kilometres) are not tarred, but very well maintained and can be travelled with a normal vehicle.

There are various types of accommodation available in the park: two restcamps with chalets, three restcamps with safari tents and some luxurious lodges and hotels.

The park offers a number of wonderful picnic spots, numerous hides for game watching, huge walk-in aviaries, safe hiking trails, safari drives at night and flights over the park in a hot-air balloon.

Kruger Park - Sirheni Camp

By entering the Kruger park, the home of my beloved animals, I forget the ugly world on the other site of the fence. I wish to share one special event I had the privilege to experience in Sirheni, a small camp in the northern parts of Kruger, overlooking the Sirheni dam. Nearly every afternoon a small group of five male Elephants visited the dam to drink, play in the water and have a good mud bath. The Elephants used the waterline between Bungalow No.15 and Bungalow No. 12. We normally stay in Bungalow No.15 and I was able to watch my favorite animals at close distance, for many hours. This time we stayed with friends at the other side of the camp and I was sure that I would miss my big friends. At about lunchtime we returned to the camp and my partner and my friends enjoyed a well deserved rest. I walked along the fence to wait for the Elephants. A few minutes later the group arrived without making any noise. I was only a few meters away and was able to watch the Elephants from a very close distance. The youngest elephant tried a few times to scare me off with his mock attacks, but the rest of the group was relaxed and I was not too worried. I begged the Elephants to follow me to our Bungalow, we walked next to each other, only a low fence between us, and at the end I arrived at our Bungalow with all five Elephants. Needless to say that I was absolutely delighted. Thank you my friends!

Kruger Park - Shimuwini Camp

In February 2000 Shimuwini was flooded, the water level is marked on the one photo. Furniture, Trees and Fences ended up swimming in the Letaba River. Elephants, Lions, Snakes and Crocodiles moved into the camp after the water moved out. Under difficult conditions the camp was renovated/rebuild. The Elephants did not appreciate the new fences. One Elephant bull managed to open the gate and visited the camp on various occasions. The flood did a lot of damage, but the new camp was the best furnished and equipped camp in the park. The colour of the Bungalows change with the sun from a bright yellow to a orange brown. At that time Frank was the camp manager, but his wife Brenda was the soul of Shimuwini. For me, Shimuwini was the most beautiful camp in the Park. Shimuwini has a lovely bird hide and to watch the sunrise and sunset from the bird hide is a experience not to be missed.