Category Archives: North West Province

Our experiences in the reserves of the North West Province, South Africa

Our 2022 in pictures

Join us for a look back at the wonderfully wild South African destinations we visited during 2022. May 2023 be a blessed year for you and your family, memorable for all the best reasons.

Satara Bungalow B50, December 2021 – January 2022

First sunrise of 2022

Tlopi Tent #1 (Plover), Marakele National Park, February 2022

Tlopi Tented Camp, Marakele National Park, seen from the Mbidi Loop

Beautiful scenery around Lake Mankwe in the Pilanesberg National Park (20 February 2022)

Chalet 12 in Mantuma Camp, uMkhuze Game Reserve, Isimangaliso Wetland Park, March 2022

uMkhuze scenery

Log Cabin 25, Cape Vidal, iSimangaliso Wetland Park, March 2022

Sunset over Lake St. Lucia

Hilltop Chalet 47, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, March 2022

View from Hilltop Chalet 47, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, March 2022

Chalet 16, Mpila, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, March 2022

White Umfolozi River

Joubert interacting with an elephant at African Hills Safari Lodge, June 2022

Cottage #18 in Leokwe Rest Camp, Mapungubwe National Park, June 2022

Iconic Mapungubwe: baobabs, elephants and rocky outcrops

Tent #10, “Loerie”, at Tlopi Tented Camp in Marakele National Park (June-July 2022)

Sunset at Tlopi

Sunrise over Marais Dam in Rietvlei Nature Reserve

Sandy Place unit 21, St. Lucia Town, October-November 2022

National Women’s Memorial in Bloemfontein

Looking out over Lake Saint Lucia and the forested dunes on Indian Ocean coast

Chalet #17 in Karoo National Park, December 2022

A normally dry Karoo streambed transformed into a flowing river

Van Breda Cottage in the West Coast National Park, December 2022

Salt marsh in the West Coast National Park, dominated by Perennial Glasswort

Tietiesbaai

West Coast Fossil Park

Table Mountain towering over Table Bay

Rhodes Memorial

Eland Cottage, Cape of Good Hope, Table Mountain National Park, December 2022

Hout Bay harbour

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, 23 December 2022

Aloe Canyons Guest Farm, December 2022

Koppie Alleen Beach in De Hoop Nature Reserve

Waskraalvlei in the Nuwejaars Wetlands Special Management Area

Protea Glamping, Kleine Windpompie Guest Farm, Klein Karoo, December 2022

View from our tented unit at Kleine Windpompie.

Announcement! Pilanesberg National Park with DeWetsWild & Legacy Hotels & Resorts

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Announcement!

We are very proud to announce that DeWetsWild can now assist you with reservations at the fantastic Legacy Hotels & Resorts Bush Lodges in the Pilanesberg National Park!

https://dewetswild.com/about/reservation-services/pilanesberg-national-park-reservations/

Pilanesberg Outing

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After seeing how beautifully the summer rains transformed the Marakele National Park, we made some hasty plans for a day visit to the Pilanesberg National Park the following weekend. The Pilanesberg Mountains are the concentric remains of an ancient volcano and was transformed from farmland to a wildlife haven in the 1980’s. You’re welcome to click on the first image in the gallery and scroll through the photo’s to join us on our drive through the Pilanesberg.

Early rays of sunshine colour the Pilanesberg

Deep pool in the Mankwe stream

A Tsessebe dwarfed by the landscape

Tsessebe close-up

Monotonous Lark

Crossing the Mankwe stream again

Cinnamon-breasted Bunting

Blue Wildebeest

Steppe, or Common, Buzzard on Mankwe Way

Walking underneath a Giant Kingfisher at Mankwe Hide

Beautiful scenery around Lake Mankwe in the Pilanesberg National Park (20 February 2022)

Female Red Bishop (photo by Joubert)

Beautiful scenery around Lake Mankwe

White-throated Swallow

Beautiful scenery around Lake Mankwe

African Pied Wagtail

An immature Green-backed Heron being very distrustful of a large Nile Crocodile

Malachite Kingfisher

Black-backed Jackals

Black-backed Jackal

Black-backed Jackal (photo by Joubert)

African Hawk Eagle

Blacksmith Lapwing

Common Waxbill

White-fronted Bee-eater (photo by Joubert)

An immature Green-backed Heron in flight (photo by Joubert)

Makorwane Dam

Nile Monitor on a rocky bed

Black-winged Kite

African Leopard butterfly (photo by Joubert)

Brown Snake Eagle

Elegant Grasshopper (photo by Joubert)

Helmeted Guineafowl

Baby Leopard Tortoise

African Wattled Lapwing

Batlhako Dam

Impala Ram

Impala Ram (photo by Joubert)

Rathlogo Pan

Elephant at Rathlogo Pan

Baby Hippo resting on mom’s back at Rathlogo

Young elephant

Young elephant with a spring in his step (photo by Joubert)

Elephant Family

Tiny, tiny elephant baby

Tiny, tiny elephant baby (photo by Joubert)

Blue Wildebeest

Big Elephant bull at Pilanesberg Centre (photo by Joubert)

Malachite Kingfisher

Giraffe (photo by Joubert)

Red-billed Oxpecker

Red-backed Shrike

Giraffe

View on the way to Noga Viewpoint

Vervet Monkey waiting for a lift at Bakubung Gate

The end to a most memorable day in Pilanesberg

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Sadly, our time for exploring the Pilanesberg National Park has very nearly run out by the point we make one final pit stop at the Mankwe Hide. From here it’s only a 12km drive to the exit at Bakubung Gate, and however we try to dawdle the last few miles along Letsha and Kubu Drives the gate still comes into view too soon for our liking…

Scenery in Pilanesberg National Park

Sacred Ibis on a tiny nest at Kubu Dam

Giraffe

Mankwe Hide to Bakubung Gate

It is 18:02 as we drive out the Pilanesberg National Park at Bakubung Gate. We’ve spent exactly twelve amazing hours exploring the Park, most of it in drenching, cleansing rain. If you need to catch up on our drive through the Pilanesberg National Park, you can read all the previous posts here.

Now it’s just short of a two hour drive back to Pretoria and, as good a time as any, I think, to look back on how this Park came into existence. More than a billion years ago what is today the Pilanesberg National Park was an active volcano that, during its final eruption, collapsed in onto itself and the remains of which is visible from space as a range of concentric hills in South Africa’s North West Province.

NASA image of the Pilanesberg
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilanesberg_Game_Reserve#/media/File:Pilanesberg_Ring_Dike_Complex_(19921993221).jpg)

Humans have been living in this area since the Stone Age. When the first European explorers, missionaries and eventually settlers arrived here it was ruled by Chief Pilane of the Bakgatla clan, hence the given name Pilanesberg (Pilane’s mountain). The Pilanesberg quickly became transformed into farmland. In 1961 South Africa’s apartheid government declared the homeland of Bophuthatswana for the Tswana-speaking people and Pilanesberg was one of the pockets of land incorporated into the new nominally independent “country”.

The Bophuthatswana Government started planning the Pilanesberg National Park in 1969 already. The 550km² reserve only opened on the 8th of December 1979 though, following the relocation of the farming communities that lived there originally, the removal of almost all human-made structures and exotic plants, fencing of the entire perimeter, provision of tourism infrastructure and the introduction of nearly 6,000 large wild animals from all over Southern Africa in the epic Operation Genesis.

With the dawn of a democratic South Africa in 1994 Bophuthatswana, and the Pilanesberg National Park, once again officially became part of the country.

A day in Pilanesberg: Hour 11

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We’re driving along Tshwene Drive in the Pilanesberg National Park and have just passed the Korwe Link turnoff when we see two vehicles up ahead, driving very slowly. Is that ANOTHER LION in the road in front of them!? We can’t believe our luck at yet another lion sighting – our fourth for the day – and such an impressive specimen too! He proceeds close to the road for a while with his adoring fans following faithfully, then moves deeper into the veld but still more or less parallel with the road, requiring us to continue along in first gear for the occasional glimpse.

Strolling King

Beautiful Pilanesberg lion

Beautiful Pilanesberg lion (photo by Joubert)

Beautiful Pilanesberg lion

Beautiful Pilanesberg lion marking his turf

About 200m further along the road we notice a herd of giraffes, and the lion is heading right towards them. Slowly we venture forward to find the best vantage point for the impending attack, but the lion is spotted by his lofty quarry and can only roar about his disappointment… Perhaps the tsessebes another few hundred meters further along would have been easier prey, if he didn’t tell all and sundry he was there with that load roaring!

Herd of giraffes on Tshwene Drive

Tsessebes on Tshwene Drive

We decide to pay one last visit to the shores of Mankwe Dam, and guess what? MORE LIONS! These two are doing what lions do best – sleeping. Our fifth encounter with lions in one day at Pilanesberg is decidedly sedate compared to the others, but we appreciate it nevertheless.

Scenery at Mankwe Dam

Lazy lions on Hippo Loop

In quite a contrast, our next sighting is of two lesser striped swallows serenading each other with the chirpiest tunes at the bridge over the Mankwe stream. It’s so sweet seeing each taking a turn to listen with eyes closed to the other’s melody!

Lesser striped swallows at the “Wimbledon” bridge

If you’d like to follow along as we explore the Pilanesberg, a map may come in handy (for a large format version click here)

Tshwene Drive to Mankwe Hide via Hippo Loop

If you need to catch up on our drive through the Pilanesberg National Park, you can read all the previous posts here.

To be continued tomorrow, with the final installment.

A day in Pilanesberg: Hour 10

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One of the most scenic parts of the Pilanesberg National Park, and there’s stiff competition, is the area around the Tilodi Dam near the eastern entrance at Manyane, and we just have to go see what’s around there even in the pouring rain. We find a nice spot looking out over the water and just take in the peace and quiet for a while.

Plains zebra and foal

Young Kudu heifer

Tilodi Dam

Hadeda nesting in a dead tree in the middle of Tilodi Dam

Burchell’s Coucal seemingly trying to catch raindrops

If you’d like to follow along as we explore the Pilanesberg, a map may come in handy (for a large format version click here)

Mankwe Way to Tilodi and back

If you need to catch up on our drive through the Pilanesberg National Park, you can read all the previous posts here.

To be continued tomorrow.

A day in Pilanesberg: Hour 9

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It’s 2pm when we see our first warthogs for the day at the junction of Tau Link with Tshwene Drive. These plucky pigs are usually a common sight in the Pilanesberg National Park but as they do not like cold or wet weather they probably stayed in their burrows for as long as they could before being forced to venture out in search of food. A kori bustard striding the plains near Mankwe Dam is another unexpected and very welcome sight. At the dam itself, seen from the aptly named Hippo Loop, the chubby denizens of the water have taken advantage of the overcast conditions to start grazing early, while an elephant munches leisurely on a tree at the side of the road.

Warthog on Tshwene Drive

Kori Bustard on Tshwene Drive

Scenery at the western bank of Mankwe Dam

Hippo making the most of the overcast conditions

Elephant bull

Heading onwards again we opt to go see what’s happening at Mavuso’s carcass, and find that the black-backed jackals and brown hyena are still in attendance at the feast.

Brown Hyena at Mavuso’s carcass

Brown Hyena nad Black-backed Jackal at Mavuso’s carcass

Black-backed Jackals at Mavuso’s carcass

If you’d like to follow along as we explore the Pilanesberg, a map may come in handy (for a large format version click here)

Tau Link to Mankwe Way

If you need to catch up on our drive through the Pilanesberg National Park, you can read all the previous posts here.

To be continued tomorrow.

A day in Pilanesberg: Hour 8

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After lunch, getting back to the parking area at Rathlogo in the Pilanesberg National Park, we’re welcomed by a very friendly slender mongoose. Normally these animals are exceedingly shy, so this one’s unusual familiarity with humans, and in this specific location, could only mean one thing – that it is being fed by visitors to the hide (a practice that really does not do the animal any favours by the way and should be strongly discouraged).

Slender Mongoose at Rathlogo Hide

We head north from Rathlogo towards the northern boundary of the Park, turning right just before the Bakgatla Gate to travel along a loop of the Moruleng and Korwe Drives and then back past Rathlogo to the Tau Link Road. With the rain letting up for a short while there’s a few more birds appearing in the open, though some of them are still so wet and scruffy as to be unrecognisable!

Pilanesberg scenery along Kgabo Drive

Very wet and mystifying Lark

Yellow-billed Hornbill

Blue Waxbill

Swainson’s Spurfowl

Pilanesberg scenery along Tau Link

If you’d like to follow along as we explore the Pilanesberg, a map may come in handy (for a large format version click here)

Rathlogo Hide to Tau Link via Kgabo, Moruleng and Korwe drives

If you need to catch up on our drive through the Pilanesberg National Park, you can read all the previous posts here.

To be continued tomorrow.

A day in Pilanesberg: Hour 7

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Eventually our own hunger pangs motivate us to leave the scene where the now satiated lions are no longer gorging themselves with the same gusto as an hour ago. We decide to head for Rathlogo Hide, following Sefara, Tlou, Thuthlwa and Kgabo Drives, as at least we should find a bit of shelter from the rain for our picnic lunch there.

Along the way we see another buffalo, giraffes, impalas, jackals, another brown hyena, a big herd of blue wildebeest, and numerous birds, and all of this while surrounded by amazing scenery.

Buffalo bull

Giraffes at the junction of Tlou and Sefara

Brown Hyena

Capped Wheat-ear

Pilanesberg scenery

Blue wildebeest

Crowned Lapwing in a puddle on the road

Pilanesberg scenery

A leopard tortoise coming to drink from a puddle in the road reminds us to also keep our eyes peeled for the smaller fry. Incidentally, while by now we’ve ticked four of the “big 5” this fellow is our only encounter today with one of the “little 5“.

Shy leopard tortoise…

…coming out of his shell

If you’d like to follow along as we explore the Pilanesberg, a map may come in handy (for a large format version click here)

Nare Link to Rathlogo Hide

If you need to catch up on our drive through the Pilanesberg National Park, you can read all the previous posts here.

To be continued tomorrow.

A day in Pilanesberg: Hour 6

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We’re still on a high from our sighting of Rain the cheetah and her cubs when we turn from Nare Link into Sefara Drive in the Pilanesberg National Park, following the road uphill. Before we even crest the rise we become aware of the sound of thundering hooves moving at speed…

“Buffaloes!”

The Park’s buffaloes are so seldomly seen that they’re known as the “ghosts of the Pilanesberg”, and any encounter with them is a thrilling treat. Even more so these particular buffaloes, as they are in quite a rush to get away as quickly as possible, allowing only a few photos as they run past us, thankfully without smashing into our vehicle. Was it us who scared them?

Buffaloes rushing past us on Sefara Drive

As the buffaloes stampede down into the valley, we get back our composure and drive on. We don’t get very far however before Joubert yells out, again, “Lions!” Could it really be our third lion sighting of the morning!?

Indeed, there obscured behind some twigs and branches, are a pride of 5 lions wrestling with a buffalo cow on the ground! Now the stampeding herd of buffaloes we saw half-a-minute ago makes perfect sense!

Lions killing a buffalo on Sefara Drive

As the bellowing of the cow dies down, no longer to be heard above the sound of raindrops on the car’s roof, and her feverish kicking stops, it’s clear that the fight is all over. In the excitement it takes a while for me to figure out that if I drive past the scene we’d have a much clearer view of it looking back. Just as the feeding starts one of the younger lionesses gets up and walks off, presumably to collect the pride’s cubs to join the feast. While we wait almost an hour for her to return, she doesn’t, so the cubs must’ve been quite some distance away. In the meantime the sights and sounds of the lions tearing the buffalo cow open and apart is as bone-chilling as you can imagine.