Malaria-free Big Five safari in Pilanesberg

Today, you’ll fly from your selected airport, with connecting flights along the way. Your destination will be Johannesburg in South Africa.

Upon arrival in South Africa, you’ll be met at the airport by our local partner, who will drive you to your hotel. You’ll spend two nights in Johannesburg.

Jozi, Jo’Burg – this beloved city has many names. Johannesburg is South Africa’s largest city, with somewhere between 5 and 15 million inhabitants, depending on what is counted as part of the city.

The city came into being after gold was discovered in the area in the 1880s, and to this day, Johannesburg is known as one of the world’s ‘gold capitals’.

Many people mistakenly believe that Johannesburg is South Africa’s capital, but although it is the country’s largest city and undisputed economic centre, it is not the capital. In South Africa, power is divided between three different cities: Pretoria, the administrative capital; Cape Town, the legislative capital; and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.

The rest of the day will be yours to recoup from the travel and perhaps do a little shopping in the popular suburb of Sandton.

It is difficult to talk about South Africa and Soweto without also mentioning apartheid. Apartheid – an Afrikaans word meaning ‘separation’ – was South Africa’s official policy of racial segregation from 1948 to 1994. Through a wide range of laws, the population was divided according to race, with the white minority granted special rights, while the black population and other non-white groups were subjected to widespread discrimination.

Two of the most prominent figures in the fight against apartheid were the lawyer and freedom fighter Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Both fought for a South Africa where all citizens, regardless of skin colour, had the same rights. Mandela spent 27 years behind bars as one of the apartheid regime’s best-known opponents and, following his release in 1990, played a crucial role in the negotiations to abolish apartheid. In 1994, he became South Africa’s first democratically elected Black president.

Both received the Nobel Peace Prize – Tutu in 1984, while apartheid was still in place, and Mandela in 1993, jointly with the then-South African president, F.W. de Klerk. For a long period, both families also lived on Vilakazi Street in Johannesburg’s Soweto township. This makes it the only street in the world to have been home to two Nobel Peace Prize laureates: Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu.

Today, you’ll embark on a full-day guided tour of Soweto. It’s a common misconception that Soweto is a slum. It is anything but. It is a township – an urban area established under apartheid as a residential area for the Black population. Today, the neighbourhood is home to everything from large villas and flats to areas with more informal housing. The name Soweto is, incidentally, an abbreviation of SOuth WEstern TOwnships. A guided tour of the neighbourhood is a fascinating opportunity to learn more about South Africa’s history and culture. Naturally, you’ll also visit Mandela’s house, which has now been converted into a museum, as well as a few of the neighbourhood’s other attractions. Today’s tour includes lunch at a local café in Soweto.

You will arrive back at the hotel in the late afternoon.

After breakfast, you will be picked up at the hotel and head north-west towards Pilanesberg. The drive takes approximately three hours.

Pilanesberg Game Reserve, located just over 200 km north-west of Johannesburg, is one of South Africa’s largest and most popular safari areas. Its easy accessibility from Johannesburg, along with the fact that the area is malaria-free, makes the park an ideal safari destination for safari enthusiasts of all ages. 

You will spend five nights in Pilanesberg.

Pilanesberg lies in a transitional zone between the desert landscapes of the Kalahari to the west and the more tree- and shrub-dominated savannahs to the east. The area comprises open grasslands, bush vegetation, wooded areas, and waterholes. As the landscape was formed by volcanic activity around 1.2 billion years ago, it features varied terrain, including hills, valleys, rocky areas, and different soil types. Together, these create a wide range of habitats for animals and plants that are not often found in the same place. Impalas, kudus, zebras, hyenas, wildebeest, and giraffes – they are all here, along with, of course, the Big Five. Birdwatchers will not be disappointed either, as more than 360 species have been recorded here.  

Over the next few days, you’ll have plenty of time to explore the reserve at your own pace. Every game drive offers new opportunities for exciting wildlife encounters, while the rest of the day can be spent enjoying views of the bush from the lodge. Your stay in Pilanesberg includes one daily game drive, which you can take either in the morning or afternoon. For the rest of the day, you can enjoy the lodge’s many facilities or book additional game drives and other excursions.

It’s time to say goodbye to the bush and begin your journey home. You’ll be collected from the hotel and driven to the airport, where your journey home begins with connecting flights along the way.

You’ll land at your selected airport after a wonderful tour.