The Safari

4 yo Male Lion at Night
Pilanesberg Nature Reserve
February 24, 2025

 The final portion of our South African trip has arrived. We successfully completed on of four planned safari rides last evening and arrived back at the lodge exhausted. 

White Rhinos
Pilanesberg Nature Reserve
February 24, 2025 

The ride was a wild success. We saw White Rhinos, a Black Rhino, Impalas, Wildebeest, some Hippos playing in the water, birds, giraffes in the distance, zebras, some other antelope breeds and we actually saw a lion. The lion was something that Chris dearly wanted to see and I am happy that the last sighting of the night was the lion imaged here.

Impala Crossing
Pilanesberg Nature Reserve
February 24, 2025

We departed the lodge at 4:30 PM and arrived back at about 9 PM. All of the rides are scheduled for three hours, but more if hunting is good. Of course, we are hunting with a camera.

The area has been blessed with rain of late and it is very green. There is water still standing in many places on the trails and the animals are very active. We saw many herds of Impalas, but one of them was huge with maybe 100 animals all told. 

Today we have two rides, one at 5:30 AM in the morning and another 4:30 PM ride until after dark.

We are hoping for some close-up time with giraffes and hippos. And who knows what other animals we may see. We were told that seeing a Black Rhino was rare--but we saw one. 

-- Bob Doan, Pilanesberg Nature Reserve, South Africa