Team-BHP - Today will be remembered as the day I played with lions :)

Hi NFS,

Yes its a safe place if some precautions are taken. Please do let me know if you any more interesting places. I stay in Midrand near Carlswald Shopping centre. Have you been to Jo-Burg. I accept that it really has amazing highways. Yes i have been to Rosebank area. Specifically for Bombay Blues restaurant. I did spotted a Ferrari 599 but not lambo.

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Originally Posted by nfsfreak (Post 2444047)

Arun, Nice TL and thats some good snaps with Lions.

+10 to that. You can really enjoy the country blessed with nature, if you know how to stay safe. Do avoid public transports, night walks on streets/roads.
There are loads of places in SA that could keep you interested for atleast an year, if planned for every weekend.

Jungle safaris are very famous that one should not miss but also do visit Mpumalanga, CapeTown & Durban.
Good thing is if planned properly, you can cover all the places by Road from Joburg (except Capetown - 1600 kms from joburg, which would require atleast one week to enjoy the routes, if you are planning to drive). SA have some excellent highways running throughout the country.

Btw, which area in Joburg are you staying? I had often seen a Lambo Murcielago parked near Rosebank area, in one of the Malls.

BMW & Mercs are clearly favoured brands there. Audis finding their way lately.

Kruger National Park is a different experience all together. Do plan to have a night stay in one of the Jungle resorts. Would require atleast a proper 2/3 days stay there to catch up with all of the BigFive.

This is The Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve is a privately owned, non-subsidized game reserve, covering approxmiately 1 200 ha on the typical highveld of Gauteng. The reserve is situated in the "Cradle of Humankind", a declared World Heritage Site, about 40 km north-west of Johannesburg and 60km west of Pretoria.

The tiger, white lions and cubs are there in Visitors Area where they are kept. And the lions pride spotted in the safari. Visitors Area has reptiles and children park etc etc for all the entertainment. They have facility for Braai too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by r_devakumar (Post 2444156)

Wow, wonderful pictures.

And with the familiar cars around (i20, spark, swift...), i thought for a moment it is a place in India.

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Originally Posted by Travel_newbie (Post 2444161)

Hey,
So is this a natural wildlife national park or some sort of an open zoo? I was wondering what was our humble tiger doing there

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Originally Posted by arun_kun (Post 2444997)

I was there in Joburg for 3 years stayed in Sandton area. My office was at Illovo.

I think Midrand is very near to Fordsburg which is primarily an Asian settlement area.
- You will get all Indian groceries there (I used to visit every weekend),
- Many Pakistani/Indian Cuisines. Visit Sayona a famous veg restaurent in fordsburg. Nice food & snacks
- All new hindi DVDs (within a week of release, max).

You could visit MonteCasino on a friday/saturday night and GoldReef city (themepark/casino) on a weekend (1 day).

Interesting places you could cover in single day:
Suncity (three hours drive)
Johannesburg & Pretoria zoo.
Pilanesberg
Lions Park

Weekend getaways:

Mpumalanga - you could cover some good POIs in a single day but would be hectic. Two days there would be the best bet to cover it fully.

Durban is 6 hours drive and you could spend a weekend over there (may be 3 days). Try snorkeling, Scuba diving etc.

If you have 5-6 days, try driving down to Capetown (esp the wine route). Loads of places to cover enroute.

Thanks Guyz. And those identifiable cars were actually driven by indians lol:

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Originally Posted by Joy (Post 2445413)

Excellent pics.:thumbs up

Those big cats are amazing. Are they tamed?

Now eagerly waiting for your Krugger T/L.

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Originally Posted by ani_meher (Post 2445533)

Wonderful pictures man! You are lucky :)

And great to see identifiable cars around, Swift, i20! The lions and lionesses look beautiful.

I guess there no point in posting usual BMWS and Mercs.. i will post few unique cars commonly found on roads.

This is a race track which i visited while on my way to Laudium:

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No its not our M800:uncontrol. Its VW CITI which is common here. First i got really confused and surprised to find 800 here in SA.And it similar to M800 in most angles.

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This is local transport, Shared Taxi which people use if they do not have car.

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Thanks Man!

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Originally Posted by MohsinRoadster (Post 2448043)

Your trip has indeed payed off. Brilliant pics with the cubs. I am sure everyone seeing the pic will envy you. So did I.

Here are few pics of the road. Pardon me for the clarity, as i took them night at ISO6400 and was in car. So that's why these pics are not that sharp:Frustrati. This is the daily route i take to my office. Any advise how to make them sharper?

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I am sure it is a great experience to be up close to the Lions.

i20, Swift, Beat (a.k.a Spark)! You sure you are in SA. Just kidding, nice to see all these cars in the same vicinity. Got to see so many common cars. Can spot the U-VA and the actual indian version of the Spark as well. By the way, since the Beat is called the Spark there, then what is the Spark called?

Thanks Dude.. SA has lot of indians. I realized that after i come here. I envy these guys on how they maintain their vehicles and their lifestyle. Here cars says lot about their lifestyle.

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Originally Posted by joshuakeys (Post 2461721)

Even i thought its Some where in India, Looking at those cars. Lucky you.

It really was. It was few of the moments in life which will rem as milesstones :D. Spark in India called here as "Spark Lite".

Quote:

Originally Posted by thedreamcatcher (Post 2461913)

Me too. I cant find ad which i used like when i was kid in which Gavaskar comes with a lion into hotel and everybody sees him with lot of respect and amusement. If you can find do post it here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by A M (Post 2462744)

Beautiful pictures and an amazing experience!!

I always had this fantasy of taming a lion, take him for a walk in the evening and make him sit in the rear seat of the car with his head sticking out of the window just like many people do with their pets. Would be freaky!! lol!!

I envy you.:D