My son and I are going next July for a 10 day hunt in Northwest South Africa and we are debating spending the money to go see big five at a national park. My PH says he usually takes people here, the cost for two days in the park, 1 day at a stopover and fuel surcharge for the whole affair is $1700US total.
Is it worth it?

No.

Pilansberg is an OK park, but nothing great IMO. I'd ask your PH if he can come up with other options if possible.

You will most likely have no problems seeing animals such as rhino, lion and elephant there though, as the place isn't all that big.

It kind of made me feel like I was in a large enclosed zoo (which it is in reality), and not the wilderness.

Pilansberg rhino:

Absolutely not..

Mike

Martinbns,

In 2003 my hunting partner and I went to Kruger Park for two days before we went hunting. It was a nice way to ease into the time zone and, I believe, helped us begin to fine tune our game spotting "eye".

If you fly in on SAA you can get reasonable prices to fly on to Mupumalanga [Nelspruit] Airport and then tranfer to Kruger Park. We stayed at the Protea Kruger Gate Hotel just outside the park, they arranged tours for two days which covered only the southern tip of the park. We did see 4 of the big 5 however, no Leopard. And many, many other animals, birds, trees, plants, etc. This is a big park where you could easily spend 2-3 days.

Including the airfares, hotels, meals and tour we did not spend near $1700.

You could afterwards return to Johannesburg and onto wherever your Outfitter/PH was going to pick you up.

If you want more details please contact me by PM or email.

Les

Kruger is a lovely park, not quite as wild as some of the parks in Botswana, say, but definitely worth a visit.
- mike

definately krueger - you can rent a car and do the drive yourself very easily. only thing is that you need to make reservations for the campsites in the park now. Go to the library & they'll have a redbook on krueger that will explain everything. at the campsites there are grocery stores etc. so that you really need to take nother along at all.
it takes more than 2 days to see the whole park, if you only have 2 or 3 go to the middle and southern sections.

NW covers a lot of ground so I'm not sure exactly where you're staying. If it's realatively nearby, one day - preferably your last - can be spent touring Pilansberg. Then on to the airport so long as your departure time permits. I equate Pilansberg roughly with Yellowstone in the states - without the geysers. It's a nice stop if your trip doesn't permit several days to see Kruger, but $1700? I don't think so! Use the money for another trophy fee.

all the answers have been spot on. pilansberg is ok, but it really can be covered in half a day. its not worth the trip for the real hunter. i went and spotted more game that the guide in the bus hahahaha

martinbns,

Pilansberg is a one day thing in my opinion. We did see rhino which at the time I hadn't seen. Otherwise it was a cold and windy day without much game about. You should go though just to see the hotel at Sun City. It is the most opulent, gaudy, over done thing I've ever laid eyes on. It absolutely puts Vegas to shame. It seemed really strange to see a guy in safari gear carrying a cased rifle come out through this glitzy lobby and get into a hunting vehicle with a PH. One of the things people like about hunting near Pilansberg or actually in the park and staying at Sun City is that they can also play golf as well as hunt. Different strokes!

Do it right and go to Kruger if you can spend 2-3 days.

Mark

I have been there 3 times and I would not spend that kind of money to do it. If you stay at The Palace of the Lost City in Sun City, you can get an open air vehicle to drive your group (exclusively)around for a few hundred dollars. You don't see massive quantities of game but you will see a variety. About half a day is enough. More than 1 day, no way.

One thing that is definitely worth doing if you go to Sun City is seeing the crocodile ehxibit near entrance. Now that is incredible and there are some really big crocodiles.

Personally, I think Sun City is boring as hell.

Its great, not not a huge wilderness (although the visitor area is slightly less than half the park) but if you are willing to actually explore the park its wonderful. People are quick to judge but convinently foregt that it is an hour and a half from the JHB/PTA zone, not bad having that so close to major population centres in my opinion....

Sun City/Lost City
(which has nothing to do with the park, except being on the soutern border), is flashy and lame...micro Vegas, not my scene.

Take a balloon flight (fantastic!), walk around the Manyane camp area (which is over 1000 acres), have a picnic in some hides, Lenong lookout etc etc.

I could easily do 2-3 days there, lots more in Kruger but if you want to to pass judgement after 2 hours of sitting in your car...so be it.

Lots of cool parks in SA besides Kruger too...many in fact, just get less press. one of my favourite is Mkuzi in Natal.

In 2002, when the RSA exchange rate was about 10/1, I took my granddaughter to five countries in southern Africa. For about $2,000 US total for the two of us, I booked a 7-day tour that included our own driver who picked us up in Pretoria, meals, and lodging at the Skakuza camp in Kruger for three days, and three days with meals at the Thorntree Lodge smack on the Zambezi River in Zambia. The price included SAA return airfare from JHB to Vic Falls (Zim), as well as one night at a bed and breakfast in Jo'burg while we waited for the Vic Falls flight. The exchange rate isn't as favorable now, but $1,700 US-- plus gas -- to drive around little Pilansburg is way too much.

Bill Quimby

I agree with all the above. I have done Kruger and Pilansberg. Pilansberg is a day at the most, if you skip Pilansberg and see if you can do Kruger. Much bigger and a bit more wild then Pilansberg, especially at $1700.00

Martinbns,

Another option for you and your son would be a quick trip into Swaziland, where you could stay at Mkhaya Game Reserve.

24 hours there is about US$130 per person all included as far as I recall, and it is an experiance I am sure you and your son would find enjoyable. The reason being that it is one of the few places where you can track both white and black rhino on foot, besides the usual driving around in an open Land Rover.

I'm reasonably a sure couple of days there, including transport, combined with a couple of days before/after in Kruger Nat. Park (it's only a couple of hours drive from the southernmost gate at Kruger) would end up cheaper than the $1700 you were quoted for Pilansberg. And the experiance would be far superiour than a couple of days in Pilansberg.

A female white rhino in Swaziland:


Her baby, taken only about 1.5 meters away, when he decided to "check me out":

Pretty pricey. I join in the group who have advised against paying $1700.00 for the tour.

I've been there, done that - 1/2 day is fine. Two days are more than enough. Go to the Kalaghari Transfrontier Park if you can take the time. You can spend days there easily.

Brent

I should expand where the $1700 comes from, it includes the charge for my PH to pick us up in Johannesburg instead of Kimberly which will save us about $400 in extra airfare. $300 each for each day inthe park all inclusive, 100 each for the day after on the way which inlcudes 4 hours of huting at our first destination. Kruger is in the other end of the country, we will be hunting two properties , one near Kimberly and the other north near the Botswana Border, I'm not prepared to do selfguided on my first trip to Africa, maybe next time.
I guess the question would have been should I spend 2 days at Pilansberg before I hunt to see Big 5 and acclimatize ourselves?

I forgot to add, it will actually be our PH taking there.

Pilansberg sounds like a one day park to me. I found Etosha to be the same. As for Kruger, I do not know how anyone could feel like they have seen it in 2-3 days. If you split the Kruger park in half (north and south) I would want at least 4-5 days in each half (self touring). Otherwise you would have to rush and would be driving way too much each day IMO.

I hunted with Coenraad Vermaak Safaris in Pilansberg for 7 days for plains game and it is much larger than the part open for tourists. We saw loads of white and black rhino, several real wild lions, cheetah, buffalo and a wide variety of plains game. Tented camps at a water hole complete with a pride of lions and visiting elephant. I think it is a great deal if you want to go to SA and not be in a fenced small ranch or hop from ranch to ranch.

Martin- The breakdown of costs that you provided looks very reasonable to me.It sounds like you will get a couple of days to see some game and spend some time on the ground with your PH before heading into the camp.It will save you a bit of air travel and give you a chance to get over the jet lag a bit before breaking out the hardware.I say go for it.

We went to Pilanesberg in 04 after the hunt. Stayed inside the park as the only guests at the Tschkudu Lodge(many stars). Had an excellent time, two days total. Did not see the numbers of game I expected, but did get up close with elephant, giraffe, rhino and lion. That is what we went there for, and to relax before going home( very good idea).
Would I go back? No
Would I recommend it? Yes
Our after hunt activities next year will focus on people and places rather than animals.

Dulcinea

Pilansberg was fun. I think a day and a half is more than enough. We saw a lot of rhino and elephant up close and personal. I was disappointed not to see lion nor buffalo.