Finally, on my very last day in South Africa [17-AUG] I had the chance to meet THEM: Wild animals that everyone associates with Africa. Zebras, giraffes, kudus, hippos, impalas, white rhinos, wilderbeasts, an elephant...
And I met them at home, their home, the Pilanesberg National Park. It is a unique game reserve 150 km northwest of Johannesburg, situated in an ancient volcanic crater. http://pilanesberggamereserve.com

At this time of the year (winter) the area was extremely dry. Big parts of the vegetation was burnt down due to heavy forest fires this winter. But watch yourself whom I met:

















After 2 hours driving through the game reserve our car showed some slight signs of dust...


On our way back to Jo'burg we had a quick stop at Sun City, a peculiar place somewhere between dusty lands and rocks. The holiday and casino resort was founded in 1979. Back then gambling was forbidden in entire South Africa, but Sun City was situated in the territory of the former black homeland of Bophuthatswana. Since this was an independent state under the Apartheid regime which (in contrast to the rest of the country) permitted gambling, people from all over South Africa came to the casinos.