2 Best Sights in Johannesburg, South Africa

This 187,500-acre game reserve in the North West Province (about 4 hours from Johannesburg and Pretoria) close to the Botswana border is open only to overnight visitors, who can choose from over 20 luxury lodges to stay. The reserve is famous for its wild dog population, but is also known for cheetahs, the Big Five, and its general game, such as zebras, wildebeest, giraffes, and impalas. It was established in 1991 and is fast becoming one of the most popular private reserves in the country, because of its size, abundance of game, proximity to Johannesburg, and the fact that it is malaria-free (so is very safe for children).

The 150,000-acre Pilanesberg Game Reserve is centered on the caldera of an extinct volcano. Concentric rings of mountains surround a lake filled with crocodiles and hippos. Open grassland, rocky crags, and forested gorges provide ideal habitats for a wide range of plains and woodland game, especially wildebeests and zebras, which are plentiful here. The Pilanesberg (pronounced pee-luns-berg) can boast the Big Five (you have a great chance of seeing elephants and rhinos here on almost any single drive) and is malaria-free. It's a bird-watcher's paradise, with a vast range of grassland species, waterbirds, and birds of prey. The entertainment and resort complex of Sun City is nearby.