Share Your Pilanesberg Stories

Rain and her beautiful Cheetah Cubs 
we relocated to Rustenburg just to be closer to the park. we try to have at least 8 day visits a month. on two previous visits we were exited to have seen …

Lioness hunting blue wildebeest  
Friday, 3 April 2015, my wife,son and I have been spending time in Pilanesberg National Park since 06:00. The morning provided us with special sightings …

Thlutwa leopard 
28 December 2014 driving along Kgama Drive looking for Rain (female cheetah),I receive news of a leopard seen in a tree on Thlutwa Drive. I decided to …

Elephants on Parade 
Had the good luck to find a herd of elephants with several calfs in tow. Must have taken 50 photos :)

Misty Morning 
I headed out early to try to get dawn photos from the lookouts in the center of Pilanesberg, but everything was fogged in. Got some good foggy photos …

Crocodile attacks zebra 
My husband and I were driving past Makorwane dam and it was just after 11H00 on Thursday 21/03/2013 when we heard a strange noise coming from the dam. …

Terrapin on hippo's head 
We walked into the Rathlogo hide on I think the 24th Dec 2012, and saw about 12 people all on their hands and knees, well i first thought it was the end …

Awesome shot 
Sunday - 06.01.2013 I found this leopard right at the turnoff to Mankwe dam in the Pilanesberg. After visiting the Pilanesberg so many times already it …

Feeding the monkey ? 
Photo taken at the Pilanesberg Center. There where visitors who orderd a cup of coffee, but drank the coffee without the sugar. They left the table, they …

Leopard Kill 
Whilst this may not be a technically good photo it is special as we came across this Leopard with her kill about 50 meters of the road on Sefara Drive …

Mom don't push 
The Kwa Maritane hide is a great place to watch game as it brings one down right to the water level. It seems the Mother Elephant is pushing the baby …

Twins 
We watched these two Burchell's Zebra, near Mankwe, chase each other around for about 3 minutes before they rested, when I managed to capture this shot …

Leopard on leopard rock 
Leopard found during the morning around the red rocks on mankwe way. There were 3 young leopards with their mother and we saw them for 3 days straight. …

Grey Heron at Mankwe 
Mankwe is always full of suprises. I was concentrating on a Pied Kingfisher, when suddenly this Heron passed by. Happened so fast.

Still alive and kicking 
Spent some time at Rathlogo dam on Saturday(16-06-12). When suddenly this beautiful animal came from behind the thick bushes!

Yellow-billed Kite 
On 18/03/2011 I got this bird sitting at Lengau dam. It allowed me to stop my vehicle +- 10m from the tree it was sitting on!

Furious hippo 
This furious hippo came running out of the Lengau dam chasing after the Spoonbills and Ibis’s that were sitting on the side of the dam, and who were between …

Grey Heron at Rathlogo 
I went to Pilanes during the week and found this Heron catching a few snacks while I was in the hide!

Spoonbill at Mankwe 
Took this shot late in the afternoon at Mankwe. They are rare to spot these last days.

Cheetah near Makorwane 
I found this beautiful cat very close to the Makorwane dam. Unfortunately there were only a few seconds available for me to take this shot as he was getting …

Hippo at Malatse dam 
On 19.12.2010 I took this shot of the playing hippo at the Malatse dam. This is one of by best photos ever taken in the Pilanesberg.

Hippo at Mankwe dam 
I went to Mankwe dam during the week, because it is usually more quite than on weekends. Well, it was my lucky day. There were about 7 hippos playing around, …

White-Fronted Bee-Eater 
My father in law and I spent some time at Mankwe, taking the usual photo's of african darters, cormorants, little grebe's and the famous pied kingfisher. …

Catch of the day at Mankwe 
On 4 June 2011 I caught this Pied Kingfisher with his catch of the day at Mankwe dam

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Elephants playing 
This herd of elephants came out of the river and for some reason the elephant on the left would not allow the one on the right to exit the water. Picture …

Red-billed Oxpeckers 
These two oxpeckers were busy preparing a nest in a hollow trunk next to the walkway to the Mankwe hide.

Hammerkop 
The Hamerkop is normaly sighted at lakes & rivers. It is however an infrequent visitor at Mankwe and seldom offers an opportunity to photograph it. I was …

Osprey at Mankwe 
The Osprey is a rare sighting at Mankwe and I was fortunate to capture him on take-off at last light.

Not for Sensitive viewers! 
If one is fortunate, one gets to witness that once in a lifetime incident. This photo is about such an incident where I was fortunate enough to witness …

African Spoonbill 
African Spoonbills are regular visitors at the Mankwe hide when the water level allows for close feeding. This one looks like he had a bad hair day.

Diederick Cuckoo 
The Diederick Cuckoo is another summer visitor to the Park. This one was captured along the walkway at Mankwe hide.

European Roller 
The European Roller is a summer visitor to the Park. This one was captured along Tshwene drive.

Yellow-billed Duck 
The Yellow-billed Ducks feed quite close to the hide when lake Mankwe is full and offer excellent photo opportunities. This one was captured on flying …

African Darter drying Wings 
Darters, like cormorants, need to dry their plumage after having stayed longer in water for hunting. Therefore the select sunny places to get dried. They …

Grey Lourie Closeup 
As you may have found out while surfing along this website, Mankwe Lake is a fine place to photograph birds. A lot of them can be observed very nicely …

At Sunset 
Often one forgets to take pictures of landscapes, yet the Pilanesberg offers some very nice places for that as well. As usual, the best time of the day …

Black-shouldered Kite 
Black-shouldered kites are found all year around in the Pilanesberg National Park and are usually seen perched on dead trees from where they hunt. Sometimes …

Hovering Pied 
The Mankwe hide at Lake Mankwe is the ideal location for photographing Pied Kingfishers. This one was captured in the hovering position.

Three Elephant in a row 
I was a Pilanesberg on Sunday 27/10/2013 and driving around the park when I came across these three elephant all in a row. I was just taking my photographs …

Goliath Heron Fishing 
These pictures were taken at the end of September from the Batlako hide in the Pilansberg Nature Reserve. We really got lucky as we were the only people …

Our Day trip 
On Saturday 7th August 2010, my family and I took a day trip to the Pilanesburg. The exercise was to try out my new Nikon D5000 camera and various lenses …

Pygmy Kingfisher 
The Pygmy is the smallest and most colourfull of the Kingfisher species. I captured this one at Ratlhogo hide two years ago and have not seen one in the …

African Wild Dog 
Another rare sighting in Pilanesberg is a Wild Dog. This one was photographed at Ratlhogo waterhole.

Buffalo 
Not a common sighting in Pilanesberg. The Buffalo in Pilanesberg tend to keep to the western part of the Park that is not accessable by tourists. They …

Drinking Lion 
Although I concentrate on the little ones, Pilanesberg is also about the Big 5. Here is one captured at Ratlhogo waterhole.

White Rhino and Starling 
Since 1993 I have been traveling on a regular basis to the Pilanesberg NP in South Africa. I like the park because it is close to Johannesburg, and it …

Malachite Kingfisher 
The little Malachite Kingfisher is unargueably the most colourfull visitor to the Mankwe hide. I was fortunate enough to get this one with a catch.

Cheetah 
The Cheetah is often sighted on the open plains surrounding Lake Mankwe. This one was photographed at last light from the Mankwe hide.

Black Rhino 
Although I mostly do avian photography, I sometimes use opportunities when presented to capture other animals. This image of the mother and calf was taken …

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Lilac-breasted Roller 
These birds can be seen throughout the Park. This one was captured when he visited Lake Mankwe and played the role of kingfisher - hovering above the water! …

Pied Departure 
There are quite a number of Pied Kingfishers around the Mankwe hide from time to time and when they are active it allows for excellent action photographs. …

Giant Kingfisher 
The Giant Kingfisher is not a regular visitor to the Mankwe hide. I have however been fortunate to capture them on a number of occassions. This one …

Southern-masked weaver 
The area around the Mankwe hide at the lake is a hive of activity during summer months and the breeding season. Southern-masked weaver males are very …

Catch! 
Often seen but seldom captured is the Pied Kingfisher emerging from the water with a catch. I was fortunate enough to capture the action when this one …