Our Pilanesberg Adventures

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July 2009

These pics were all pre-DSLR.



The dangers of looking for game while driving:

Getting towed out of a hole!! :oops:



Red Hartebeest



Our first-ever leopard in the Pilanesberg, and our first-ever leopard kill anywhere!! :P

A leopard took down a fully-grown wildebeest on the Tlou Dams road in the middle of the day, and there was only one other vehicle there!! 8)

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April 2010

Post-DSLR.

The only half-decent pic I have been able to get of a jackal anywhere!!



Mankwe Dam from Tshwene Drive.



Mmmm...should I even try?



What big ears you have!



At Fish Eagle Picnic Spot.

Arrow-marked Babbler



Yellow-throated Petronia



White-throated Robin-chat



A big tusker.



Waiting to be served at the Pilanesberg Centre. :roll:

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Thanks for all the lovely comments.....makes it all worthwhile!!

April 2010 cont.

Crimson-breasted Shrike at the Pilanesberg Centre



Up close and personal



Push-me, Pull-you (aka Red Hartebeest) :lol:



Tsessebe....not the prettiest of antelopes! :?



A very pretty antelope at Mankwe Dam :P



When we stopped at Mankwe Hide there was only one other person there - a man with a bazooka lens. He watched me trying to get some pics of this darter and then asked if I’d like to try his lens on my camera!!!! Stupid question! I eagerly accepted his offer but was so terrified of damaging it, so I took two quick pics and gave it back! One day maybe....when I'm big.....in the far distant future.....sigh!! :roll:





Just after leaving the hide this Rattling Cisticola was rattling for all he was worth!



I had said I wanted to see springbucks pronking, but I had to be satisfied with this one giving us ....

A hop,



...a skip.....



...and a jump.



This kudu had an unusually dark head.



Just before leaving the park at Manyane Gate we found this lone lioness making a lot of noise and spraying the bushes. It was almost dark so apologies for the bad pic!

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July 2010

Our next trip was two months later in July. This time the Brat had a friend to keep him company – not a girlfriend, just a “friend”. As with Kruger, whenever we go to Pilanesberg we leave early enough to get there when the gates open, so the kids were up bright and early and we were on our way. We entered at Bakubang Gate and our first sighting was two young rhino, followed by a Familiar Chat.





More rhinos!





This handsome bull kept a watchful eye on us.



A first for me – a Short-Toed Rock Thrush.



This wartie was having fun in the ashes, but ‘m not too sure how much nutrition was to be found there.



A Brown-hooded Kingfisher at Mankwe Hide.



Mankwe Dam



A monitor lizard at the hide.



On Motlobo Drive we found these two lumps. I’ve since learnt that they are named Leru and Fisa. (These pics are heavily cropped so excuse the poor quality.) They were dozing quite contentedly until a possible meal started approaching.....some tourists got out of their car and started walking closer to get some better pics!!! We called them back very quickly, and had to explain that these were wild animals....they honestly didn’t know!! :roll:

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July 2010 cont.

We came across a big herd of ellies – there must have been about 40....the biggest herd I’ve ever seen in Pilanesberg. They were all over the place - on the road and on both sides of the road – and my dad was in his element. :P The Brat was under the seat :roll: and trying to convince his friend to join him but she‘s obviously made of sterner stuff! :lol:



A bit too close for comfort!!



“I’m not scared...I’ve got my big brother to protect me!”



Symmetry!



“It’s much tastier than it looks!”



DRIVE, DRIVE!!!



We left the ellies behind with the adrenaline pumping, and found a tower of giraffes in perfect light!



On Dithabaneng Drive there was a traffic jam – 2 male lions on an elephant carcass. Apparently there had been more lions earlier on but they had obviously had enough.





They weren't doing much and would occasionally disappear behind the carcass but we sat with them until it was time to start making our way back to the gate. So, not a bad day in the Pilanesberg, and the first time we had had more than one lion sighting in a day.

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May 2011

Our last trip to Pilanesberg was in May this year. My SO had enough points on his MVG card for a free night at Sun City, so my dad, the Brat and I decided to spend the day in the park, stay over at Sun City and then go back into the park the next morning. We left Johannesburg at about 4.30 am and the mist was terrible almost the whole way there. We were hoping for the weather to clear up but it was rainy and cold most of the day, which didn’t make it very easy to get good pics.

We entered at Manyane Gate and took the Dithabaneng road. Our first sighting was a Violet-eared Waxbill (a first for us) but I couln’t get a good pic. We noticed some fresh lion spoor on the road and followed it till it disappeared into the bush. We had a good look around but found nothing.

This poor springbuck was covered in ticks.



A Scaly-feathered finch (another first).



The Brat got this dassie on Hippo Loop near Mankwe Dam.



A bush chicken.



We came across an ostrich with his harem.



A solitary zebra.



Mom and child.



An LBR posed obligingly in the 5 minutes of sun we had that day.



And that was it for the day....not very good sightings but who could blame the animals for wanting to stay snuggled up in such rotten weather!

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May 2011 cont.

OK, let me get this finished.

The next morning we left Sun City at 6am and went in at Bakubang gate. The mist was incredible. There wasn’t a sound to be heard, or a sight to be seen...the mist was so thick sometimes that we couldn’t see further than 2 metres in front of us....scary!!

The Brat took this pic – very eerie.



The mist would start to lift and then close in again.



However, the mist did highlight the spiders’ webs beautifully. :)







A Gabar Goshawk (I think :? ).



Giraffe in the mist.



It had started to rain again and we decided that the weather was not conducive to good game viewing so started to make our way towards Manyane Gate. On Tilodi Drive we came across a traffic jam – two male lions quite far off. The Brat managed to get this pic of one of them on full zoom before they disappeared into the mist.



A vehicle coming from the other direction stopped and told us about an impala that had been killed by jackals on the Dithabaneng road (? :o ) , so we decided to take a look before leaving. We found the impala but there was nothing else around. It only had the one wound and no bite marks around the face or neck, so I’m not sure how it died. If it had been killed by jackals it seemed strange to us that they weren’t around....very odd indeed. :?



We stayed a while to see if anything would appear but nothing did so we headed for the gate, and so ended our last trip to Pilanesberg. Until next time.....

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January 2012

Last week we went up to Sun City for 2 nights with my SO’s parents, his brother and his 2 kids. On our first afternoon we all took a late afternoon drive into the Pilanesberg.

This was our first sighting at Bakubang gate...any ideas?



We were only there for about 2 hours but I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of game we saw. :D



On Tshwene Drive we saw something cross the road quite far ahead but when we got to the spot we could find nothing. SO was adamant that it was a lion from the way it was moving and the colour....who knows!! Shortly after this our nephew excitedly pointed out 4 rhinos enjoying the lush green grass.







My FIL spotted this Pintailed Whydah...a first for me!!! z0z Then I saw another one yesterday at Footloose Trout Farm - two in the space of a week!! :P



We decided to stop in at the Pilanesberg Centre for a colddrink but were disappointed to find the shops empty and the restaurant closed for renovations. :? Seems odd that they would decide to do this over the busiest time of the year! :roll: The ablutions are still open to the public though. Whilst there, a herd of wildebeest came to drink what little water was in the waterhole and gathered around the salt lick.



Making our way back to the gate we found this family of giraffe having a drink.





A bit further on SO spotted something moving in the bush and the Brat and his cousin excitedly proclaimed that they could see 2 lions. I searched and searched but couldn’t see anything...so, apparently we had seen 3 lions in 2 hours!!!

Near Kubu Picnic spot we found our first ellies...quite a large herd but they were too far off for any good pics...and a red hartebeest!

Anyway, a good afternoon's game spotting!!

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January 2012 cont.

We didn’t go into the park the next day, so on our last morning the Brat and I woke up at 5am, collected the cousins from their room, and off we went for a drive before the rest of the family got up for breakfast.

This Groundscraper Thrush met us at the gate. :D



You looking at me??? 8)



At Lengau Dam this eagle was being harassed by two Blacksmith Lapwings. Any ideas on what eagle this is?





A lone wildebeest.



This Rattling Cisticola (I think) was making a huge racket.



By now the cousins (aged 6 and 8 ) were in full whine....“I’m hungry!”, “I’m bored!”, “She’s sitting on my side!”, “His toe is touching me!” and so it went on!! Ei I’m not used to having small kids in the car whilst game-spotting - my blood pressure was starting to rise and the Brat’s eyes were in danger of rolling right out of his head!! :roll: We decided to let them out for a while at Pilanesberg Centre where this rather large fellow amused them for a while, but sent a couple of ladies screeching off!! :lol:




The Brat heard someone mention a leopard, and not being shy when it comes to anything with spots, he immediately started questioning them. Apparently 2 leopards had been seen just past the Centre on the previous day and had been spotted again that morning!!! So the cousins were bundled back into the car with terse instructions to “shut up and look for spots” Ox and off we went....

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January 2012 cont.

So we left the Pilanesberg Centre and not more than 1km on we saw cars!! As we approached I spotted this on the left side of the road!!! :P



I grabbed my camera and started clicking away, and only had time to check afterwards...most of my pics were blurred or overexposed!! Not so easy driving and taking pics at the same time....Dad, where are you when I need you?? As the leopard was walking towards us and cars were starting to pass us, I grabbed a gap in the traffic and did the fastest 3-point turn ever!! :lol:



Look how close he was!





The next three pics were taken by the Brat.







He was quite a young leopard, and definitely on a mission. The Brat noticed three warthogs on the other side of the road...would we see our second leopard kill in the Pilanesberg?? He didn’t seem concerned about the traffic, in fact I think he was using us as cover! :? Then he darted between the cars and was after the warthogs....but it was not a very convincing chase and we wondered if he was still learning to hunt. The warthogs scattered and the leopard soon disappeared into the bush.



There were quite a few cars and jeep jockeys and everyone scanned the area, but we couldn’t find him! This was probably a good thing because I could hardly breathe!!! :? The Brat looked at me with big eyes and said “Calm down...you get too excited!”...how can you not get too excited about a sighting like that?? z0z I have to admit that after our last visit to the Pilanesberg I had felt quite disheartened by the lack of game, but my faith had been restored! :D

We left the cars behind and started to make our way back to the gate for breakfast, spotting this tsessebe on the way.



A chameleon crossed the road and my nephew got very excited, wanting to take it home. I tried to explain why he couldn’t but I don’t think he was convinced, and probably thought I was just a mean old aunty!!



We left the park after only 3 hours, but felt immensely pleased with ourselves! 0Y