Pilanesberg National Park in the North West Province, South Africa, offers spectacular landscapes ranging around a central lake. The park borders with the entertainment complex Sun City. It covers some 55 000 hectare, is the fourth largest in southern Africa. This malaria-free park is perched on the eroded vestiges of an alkaline volcanic crater – one of only three such craters in the world. Thanks to an ambitious game translocation programme called Operation Genesis in 1979, involving reserve game-fencing and the re-introduction of many long-vanished species, national park, now has in excess of 7 000 animals including 24 of the larger species.
credit: joonasl