Who: Mary and Ron Ireland of Littleton
Where: Pilansberg National Park, South Africa
Out and about: Pilansberg National Park is South Africa’s second-largest game park, founded only 25 years ago in the remnants of an ancient volcanic crater. The big-game animals were relocated to this newly established park in South Africa’s largest-ever animal-relocation project. One of the greatest advantages of this park over others is that we could easily find these animals in their natural settings instead of having to search for them all day. We felt like we were in Jurassic Park at times.
Travel tip: We found that prices were reasonable, especially when compared with travel to Europe. We stayed inside the park at Tshukudu Lodge. The lodge is located by a watering hole, which allowed us to view a variety of animals throughout the day from the deck of our cabin. By staying inside the park’s boundaries we also were able to do nighttime game drives that are permitted and conducted only by the professional bush camp guides. It also allowed us to do early- morning drives, when the animals are more active.
