safari
Pilanesburg National Park (South Africa), Qorokwe and Kwetsani (Botswana)
We were so lucky with our sightings, lots of up close experiences and a huge variety of animals. We were lucky enough to stay in beautiful accomodation, it was always really private with a view that made you feel like you were alone in the bush. Between the early breakfasts for our early starts, snacks on every game drive (AM and PM) as well as lunch and dinner we pretty much rolled out of the bush after these 8 days. Cannot recommend safari in this part of the world highly enough.
day 1 – Pilansburg afternoon
two warthogs, pretty far off but our very first sighting!
found a lioness napping on the roadside
got a thrill with an elephant walking straight toward us then taking a dust shower
a drive-by glimpse of some gnus
a herd of zebras milling around in front and beside the vehicle
three hippos in the river, mouths wide, half play-fighting
two rhinos half-hidden until we eventually saw their huge faces and horns come into view
found the same lioness again after dark, she padded alongside us for ages, unphased by the car
Dinner was a “Boma” essentially eating out under the stars, food cooked on an open fire. We tried impala (tastes like a good steak) and there was some interesting singing-and-dancing type performance around the fire.
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day 2 – Pilansburg - the one with the flat tyre
Morning drive:
super up close with some giraffes, eating, crossing the road, peering at us
a rhino mum with her two calves in a wee clearing beside the road, awesome sighting
zebras for days, sometimes taking up the road in front of us like a herd of sheep in NZ
impala and gnu dotted about quite a few places
a cheeky warthog sprinted across the road spooked some giraffes into a short run, so crazy to see those huge creatures move at pace
we watched a lioness stalking a jumpy group of zebras, buffalo, impala and a jackal - they definitely knew she was there, but the guide said she must have already made an attempt and was recovering as there wasn’t much action while we were about
Afternoon drive:
zebras and elephants crossing in front of us
a flat tire was a bit of a thrill, knowing all the anumals that are around when we had to get out so they could change it
saw one of the little 5, a leopard tortoise
enjoyed watching the hippos while we had our sundowner
in the dark on the way back the guide somehow spotted a tiny chameleon gripping a twig
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day 3 – Pilansburg to Botswana
Morning drive:
started with a tsessebe and it’s baby
saw five rhinos right up close
caught some zebras fighting off in the distance
managed to also see a black rhino (very rare)
another leopard tortoise, and more gnu
enjoyed lunch with elephants drinking right beside us at the restaurant
We then drove back to Joburg and floew to Botswana. After landing in the bush we spotted elephants, giraffes, zebras and impala on the drive from the airstrip to camp.
Evening drive highlight was a leopard up a tree, after a wild and fast drive to get there in time to see it, we got to follow it for a while, really cool to spend extended time with it.
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day 4 – Botswana - 3 outings
Morning drive:
incredible find of three cheetahs (mum and 2 cubs), which were found thanks to noticing the cautious behaviour of a giraffe mum and her calf, we watched them for ages playfighting and climbing trees
first water buffalo and hyena
endless elephants!
rhino mum and baby we got out of the truck and walked to get a closer look
two ostriches, plus an “ugly-five” bird - the marabou stork
enjoyed a packed watering hole with: hippos, baby crocs, and a lot of plains animals
saw some jackals and tsessebe on the way back
Afternoon canoe:
We went on a waterway in a mokoro: spotting a snake, a white-and-red Angolian frog, and eventually some hippos blocking our way!
Night drive:
kudu with their cute ears and stripes
more, zebra, impala, elephants, giraffes
an “African kangaroo” (springhare)
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day 5 – Botswana on foot!
Morning walk:
a porcupine!
tracks from !elephant, rhino, zebra, giraffe, lion and impala
termite mounds which can be up to 80 years old extending 3m underground
learned to identify various animal dung
saw a lil mongoose
and more giraffe, elephant, gnu, impala, zebra, warthog
Afternoon drive:
leopard tortoise gave us a great view of her face
a smaller, darker mongoose
the most amazing sundowner, we watched five lionesses and ten or elevent cubs playing around a pond, three of the lionesses then headed out to hunt while two babysat, we tried following the ones hunting for a bit but didn’t catch any action
more zebra, elephant, giraffe, impala, tsessebe, gnu, kudu
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day 6 – Botswana
On the morning drive the highlight was two lionesses with six lively cubs
We then transited to the next camp, spotting a monitor lizard under a bridge on the way
Afternoon drive:
african fish eagle
lots of crocodiles and hippos sharing the water during sundowners
a 300-year-old baobab (oldest can reach 4,500)
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day 7 – Botswana
Morning drive:
we found two male lion brothers, we got so close that they were directly beside or in front of the vehicle, we saw them play-fighting; one was limping, one was pretending to be dead, we followed them until they went to sleep curled up together
had a big herd of elephants very close got to see a bull asserting dominance to use with some head-shaking bull, saw their red eyes and long lashes, enjoyed the teeny tiny baby which didn’t even have a proper shaped head yet and had a lil floppy trunk
got super lucky with seeing a pack of 13 wild dogs hanging out under a tree, jumping alert each time a kudu called out
• good sightinggs of warthogs, zebra, impala en route and we found an abandoned ostrich egg by the track
• the air was very smoky due to some bush fires and we saw a couple of dust devils on the way home
Evening drive:
• a 500-year-old baobab
• a herd of red lechwe
• more elephants
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day 8 – Botswana to Cape Town
Morning driveL
saw the same two male lions again
lots of steenbok, kudu, elephants, giraffes, zebra, warthogs
found a pond teeming with crocodiles
stopped at a treetop lookout with a “loo with a view”
saw eagles, storks, and a flash of blue kingfisher
Flew from Qorokwe → Maun → Cape Town.
Ending the day at Burger and Lobster for burgers fries and cocktails, whilst the service was incredible in Botswana I don’t think I’ll ever feel truly comfortable being waited on hand and foot, so it was nice to be back to a more normal environment.
Reading back on all the animals we saw, it’s kinda hard to believe how lucky we got, especially for shoulder season!
(Edit - 2025, Rhinos have since become extinct in Botswana so feel even more lucky to have seen so many on this trip!)
