Pilanesberg & Sun City Self Drive Tour Package

This tour is aimed at those who wish to experience Africa's BIG 5 in the malaria free Pilansberg National Park. Combined with the game viewing is a day at Sun City.

Sun City is internationally renowned as South Africa 's premier holiday resort offering a multitude of attractions and activities to keep everyone occupied. With its combination of golf, game and gambling, as well as world class hotels. It's a great option if your pressed for time, as the drive is a mere two hours from Johannesburg.

Day 1 & 2 - Johannesburg to Pilansberg National Park

Leaving Johannesburg you head towards the Maleria Free Pilansberg National Park. The park is 55.000 hectares in extent. It is almost perfectly circular because it comprises the area of a 1200 million years old volcano crater with a small lake in the centre. This very scenic terrain lies in the transition zone between Kalahari and Lowveld, and both types of vegetation are found here. The park is home to Africa's BIG 5 including a thriving Lion Population. Other animals that call the Pilansberg home include elephants, white and black rhinos, buffaloes, leopards, zebras, hyenas, giraffes, hippos and crocodiles. Over 300 bird species were counted.

The roads in the park (some 200 kilometres) are not tarred, but very well maintained and can be travelled with a normal vehicle.

The park offers a number of wonderful picnic spots, numerous hides for game watching, huge walk-in aviaries, safe hiking trails, safari drives at night and flights over the park in a hot-air balloon.

Accommodation: Bakgatla or Manyane Resort

Day 3 - Pilansberg to Sun City

After getting your fill of game viewing you head a mere half and hour towards Sun City South Africa's premier Entertainment destination. Sun City Resort in the Pilanesberg in the North West Province is one of the most remarkable destinations in Africa.

This vast complex, nearly 20 km in circumference, is an enormous, opulent extravaganza of luxurious hotels, glittering entertainment centres, restaurants, gaming rooms, shops, discos and extensive, beautifully landscaped grounds, rated among the world's most unusually conceived, and most lavish, inland resorts.

The Valley of Waves, which links The Palace of the Lost City Hotel to the Entertainment Centre, incorporates 22 different regions of vegetation, from a rocky outcrop of ancient baoba trees, to a lush, tropical jungle.

Walkers are enticed to the Waterscape, a huge arrangement of interlinked pools, a kilometre of low weirs and two kilometres of walkways, that lead through gardens and over, and under, rock formations. Among the Waterscape's permanent residents are swans, herons, and the rare South African black duck.

It has its own 25 Hectare jungle of 3 500 trees, drawn from around the world, plus a 100 x 60 m swimming pool and 'beach', with 1,8 m high artificially created surfing waves. Among other features are massive water chutes for the brave, and a Lazy River Ride for the young and not-so-brave. The entire area is spectacularly illuminated at night.

The Entertainment Centre is a vibrant concentration of restaurants, bars, discos, speciality shops, conference venues, cinemas, slot machines and a massive 200 seat computerised bingo hall.

In its core is the Superbowl, used for conventions, banquets (seating 3 500 people), extravagant promotions, big-name shows and international events. The Casino offers the standard gaming range plus slot macines, a salon prive (punto banco and chemmy) for devotees, and the 620-seat Extravaganza Theatre.

Outdoor activities include tennis, bowls, squash, horse-riding, swimming, tenpin bowling, an animal farm for children and game viewing at Pilanesberg National Park.

The Gary Player Country Club boasts 2 top world-class golf courses and has hosted most of the world's greatest players. It is the venue for the annual Million Dollar Golf Challenge.

The Kwena Crocodile Garden at the entrance gate, is a reptile park and ranch distinguished by its dramatically 'ethnic' architecture, its luxuriantly tropical surround, and by the giant Nile crocodiles it contains, including 'Footloose', a 120-year old crocodile weighing 800 kg.

Accommodation: Sun City Cabanas

Day 4 - Sun City to Johannesburg

Departing from Sun City you head back towards Johannesburg where you spend your last night. Tour ends.

Accommodation: Airport City Lodge

NOTES:

The accommodation indicated in each area is dependant on availability. Should there be no availability during your requested period African Budget Safaris will provide an alternative option.
You can extend your package by checking out our various other self drive options or alternatively you can drop your hired car of at the Johannesburg International Airport and fly onwards to your next destination. Check with African Budget Safaris for a list of budget airlines that can be booked online.
Pre tour accommodation can be booked for you in Johannesburg. Please contact African Budget Safaris for details.

CAR HIRE

You have a choice of vehicles available through African Budget Safaris. Each vehicle is priced according to make, model, size and attributes of the vehicle (i.e. mnaual / automatic, airbags etc.). When enquiring about a self drive option, please indicate the vehicle group that you are wanting to hire.

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