Is the Golden Leopard Resort one of the best-kept secrets around?
We knew of Kwa Maritane and Bakubong timeshare resorts, which abut on to Sun City. Both cost over R1 500 a night but perhaps something simpler would suffice.
We finally got through to the Pilanesberg National Park and booked a chalet for R580 per night (sleeping five) at Bakgatla Camp for a weekend in March. The smaller chalets were all reserved but the extra space would be just fine, we decided.
From the outset, the vibe was good. We were faxed a map describing carefully how to get to the park from Gauteng.
We arrived on Friday afternoon, in time to do our own game-spotting. There is a lot to see, and we observed elephants, giraffe, zebra and many of the buck family.
The varying combinations of geology, landscape and rainfall generate different patterns of vegetation - wide-open grasslands, steep hillslopes, rocky outcrops and thickly wooded gorges.
Besides the Big Five there are 30 other species of large mammals, 350 bird species and 65 reptile species.
On a game drive the following morning, Jacques, our guide, came upon a small pride of lion, described lovely birds such as the lilac-breaster roller and we saw a brown hyena.
The Americans were very excited by it all and kept their cameras snapping at a feverish rate. Later that day at the Makwe Lair and Makorwane Dam we viewed hippo, buffalo and wildebeest.
If there is any criticism to be levied, it is that the accommodation is a little too basic with only one bathroom for as many as five people.
However, the air-conditioning works well while the proximity to Sun City makes for a varied two-day getaway. Plans are under way to upgrade the camps and a hotel is to be built in the reserve.
Furthermore Golden Leopard Resorts has launched timesharing and syndication of both Manyane and Bakgatla Resorts.
As fine a preserved building as you can find is located in the reserve. It is the Pilansberg Magistrate Court, built in 1936 and now the Pilansberg Centre, which has been converted into a restaurant and curio shop. From the terrace one can watch warthogs and birds at close range.
As the desire for cappuccino became too powerful to resist we made our way to the Sun City casino complex.
We took in a movie, had a flurry on the machines and a meal, managing to get back safely to camp along the peripheral road. The gates into the park close at 6.30pm.
The park is 50km north of Rustenberg in an eroded volcano that is more than a billion years old.
Pilanesberg is unique in that it embodies one of the biggest game translocations since Noah's Ark. More than 6 000 animals have been moved to the area since 1979.
- To book call central reservations on (014) 555- 6135/6.