The Pilanesberg Game Reserve

The Pilanesberg National Park lies in a crater of a long extinct volcano. This second largest alkine volcano in the world is now home of the Big 5 and 359 other animal species.

Pilanesberg used to be farmland, but in 1979 the “Operation Genesis” started the relocation of about 7000 animals into what is today the Pilanesberg National Park.

There are several reasons that made the Park one of the most popular parks in South Africa – no malaria, the Big 5 plus Cheetah, leopard and brown hyena, the park’s natural beauty and the great abundance of animals.

The Pilanesberg is very accessible from all big cities in Gauteng – so book your tour into the park through your hostel or check the tra:mag trips & tours board for safari companies doing tours to the Pilanesberg National Park.

Tariffs
Adults - R20.00 pp
Juveniles - R15.00 pp Pensioners - R15.00 pp
Plus
Vehicles to 16 seats: R15
Bus 17-25 seats: R55.00
Bus 26-50 seats: R70.00
Bus 50+ seats: R160.00

Gate Times
March & April
06h00 - 18h30
May - September
06h30 - 18h00
September & October
06h00 - 18h30
November - February
05h30 - 19h00

Pilanesberg National Park back to normal after a fire
Pilanesberg National Park experienced an extremely challenging week from the 20th to 24th of March when fire was detected in the park. The cause for the first fire can only be speculated and attributed to the thunder and lightning which had struck in earlier days. Later in the week another fire was detected coming from the direction of the neighbouring Mankwe College Campus. These two fires thus put Pilanesberg in a lot of strain. A team comprising of Park Management, neighbouring fire authorities, the National Disaster Management Centre and some 100 officials from Nelspruit's Department of Water Affairs and Forestry - Working on the Fire programme was put together in a short space of time and assigned to various problem areas.
The fire was successfully controlled by Friday 23rd March although monitoring continued throughout that weekend. We are pleased to report that the situation at Pilanesberg is back to normal, although, 65% of the park vegetation was affected, together with a few minor tourist infrastructures.What is most pleasing is the fact that our helicopter inspections revealed no animal injuries, none of the lodges and park visitors were affected, none of the our park officials nor external support officials were affected or injured. The more positive turn of events is that the visitors will have a better game viewing experience with the shorter grass. We are hopeful that our vegetation will recover soon enough since the rain season is not yet over! Hopefully, Pilanesberg will be greener again with better grazing soon for our valued game species.
All other facilities remain intact and life at Pilanesberg is back to normal.
Everything is in full operation.
[Source: www.pilanesberg-game-reserve.co.za]