Photographs freeze these moments and allow you to share them with others. Many visitors to Big-5 game reserves take hundreds of great animal pictures but then never look at them or share them – they remain on a computer or CD for the rest of their days – what a waste!!
This is how it tends to go - we get an email from a publisher saying that they have seen one of our photographs that they would like to use in their next magazine and they are prepared to pay us US$175,00 for the photograph!
If you've been to the Pilanesberg and love it as much as we do, please do share your experiences, advice and tips!
We would be keen to try them on our next Pilanesberg Safari and I'm sure others who visit this site will as well!
After a good day’s game viewing people gather around the campfire and relive the animal sightings of the day and reminisce about their unforgettable experiences…
• Perhaps you’ve had a good or bad Pilanesberg experience?
• Maybe you have a favorite camp?
• Do you have a funny story to tell?
• Have you captured any special Pilanesberg Photographs?
Click below to see contributions from other people who are passionate about the Pilanesberg...
Osprey at Mankwe





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




Although I concentrate on the little ones, Pilanesberg is also about the Big 5. Here is one captured at Ratlhogo waterhole.
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 ...
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....
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 ...
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 ...
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.
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 ...
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 ...
African Spoonbill
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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
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The Diederick Cuckoo is another summer visitor to the Park. This one was captured along the walkway at Mankwe hide.
European Roller
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The European Roller is a summer visitor to the Park. This one was captured along Tshwene drive.
Yellow-billed Duck
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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The Mankwe hide at Lake Mankwe is the ideal location for photographing Pied Kingfishers.
This one was captured in the hovering position.