Soweto to Pretoria & Pilanesberg Big 5 Game Drive

This tour takes you into the most famous sprawling township in Africa, home of about 2 million people. Full of surprise and contrast, Soweto is a township located on the South-Western side of Johannesburg. It is home to sites of historical importance; as many of the struggles were fought against the injustices of the apartheid. We start this tour by crossing the Nelson Mandela Bridge to visit the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg's Newtown Cultural District. You will see the Telkom Tower, an imposing 269 meters tall and Constitution Hill, where we take a highlights tour.

Now to Vilakazi Street where we can relive the history of two Nobel Peace Prize winners: Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. We visit the Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum, and then the Mandela House Museum. Have an authentic African eating experience at a local restaurant and end the day with a drive past the Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital, the largest in the Southern Hemisphere, and the Orlando power station’s towers. Overnight at a 3/4 star hotel.

Pretoria was named after one of the "Voortrekker" leaders Andries Pretorius, and is the administrative capital of South Africa. The many historic buildings, museums and monuments make this a historical ‘heimat’ of South Africa. It is also called the "Garden City" due to the abundance of Jacaranda trees flowering into a sea of purple. It is the capital city and steeped in the history of South Africa.

On entering Pretoria city centre, we visit the historic Church Square with its beautiful buildings and the Kruger Statue.  Visit the Voortrekker Monument to study the Pioneer history of South Africa and the history of the Afrikaner (Lunch en-route not included). We then traverse to the Sammy Marks Museum for a guided tour through the Marks Mansion. Visitors hear the story of Sammy Marks and his family, their experience throughout the South African War and Marks’s achievements as businessman and entrepreneur. Union Buildings concludes this rich South African heritage excursion.  We overnight at a 3/4 star hotel.

The Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve is a game reserve in Gauteng covering 1200 hectares. Besides the game drive where white lions and rhinoceros can be seen, visitors can view a wide variety of game including some very rare and endangered species and can expect to see in excess of 650 head of game. The Reserve falls within the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site (COHWHS).

 You can choose from a big variety of additional things to do here, from lion, cheetah and wild dog feeding, live snake display, a visit to the vulture hide and predator camp. It includes a visit to the Wonder Caves, a Natural Wonder 5 – 10 million years old, where Cave Pearls, Stalactites & Stalagmite Formations up to 15 m, and a Rim Stone pool can be seen. (We have lunch at one of the restaurants, own cost)

Overnight at a 3/4 star hotel.

“At a time, several millions of years ago, the inland plain and drainage wetland underwent massive geological upheaval and the area slit into two sections, and the ground tilted to the north, forming a line of two parallel mountain ranges which stretch for some 120 kilometers, from Pretoria, through Rustenburg to the Pilanesberg. This was the birth of the Magaliesberg Mountain range, which forms a natural barrier between the lower lying Bushveld to the north, and the cooler Highveld to the South and is the “meeting point” of many a species.” 

"The crater of a long extinct volcano is the setting of Pilanesberg National Park – a fascinating alkaline complex produced by volcanic eruptions some 1300 million years ago. Pilanesberg is one of the largest volcanic complexes of its kind in the world. Its rare rock types and structure make it a unique geological feature.  An abundance of wildlife proliferates in 580 km of diverse and arresting bushveld terrain. The park is home to healthy populations of lion, leopard, black and white rhino, elephant and buffalo – Africa’s “Big Five”. A wide variety of rare and common species exist with endemic species like the nocturnal brown hyaena, the fleet-footed cheetah, the majestic sable, as well as giraffe, zebra, hippo and crocodile, to mention but a few. Bird watching is excellent with over 300 species recorded. Some are migrants, others permanent inhabitants; some eat carrion or live prey, others eat seeds, fruit or tiny water organisms." from the official Pilanesberg website.

We drive on the many roads through the Pilanesberg Game Reserve where you will have opportunities to see the Big 5 in their natural habitat. We enjoy lunch (not included) in the restaurant at the visitor centre. After observing more spectacular wildlife out of hides we take you back in the afternoon to your hotel or the O.R. Tambo Airport.