In this post we will be discussing what a family trip/day outing to the Rhino and Lion Park in Krugersdorp, South Africa is like. You can also view our Youtube video showing what our trip was like:
We will talk about this from two perspectives, the family trip and what the place has to offer, and the safari experience you can expect when you take the trip. So what is A family adventure at the Rhino and Lion Park in South Africa, ,lets dig deeper into it.
Getting there and the history of The Park
The Rhino and Lion park is situated in the Gauteng Province of South Africa in a town called Krugersdorp. Its full name is the Bothongo Rhino and Lion Park.
The Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve started out with only two white rhinos and a handful of assorted antelope. In the 29 years since its inception, the reserve has grown and now boasts over 650 head of game. The Reserve was opened to the public in 1990 and since then it has flourished and grown into the beautiful landmark that it is today. The Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve is now under the dynamic and innovative ownership of the Bothongo Group.
To get to the park, they are situated in the Cradle of Humankind due North of Krugersdorp on the Kromdraai Road, the D540, 45 minutes from both Johannesburg Central & Pretoria.
So what is the park like?
So we paid online for our tickets to the enter the park and we could go straight into the park from there. They give you a guide at the entrance.
There was a reception that we visited, but that location had a bike park with small hills and a race track setup where you could rent a bicycle or something similar to ride the track if you wanted. We were not there for that and Connor is to young to do that just yet. So we skipped that and went straight into the park.
You start off in the area with the normal wildlife you would expect to see on a game reserve. Zebras, antelope such as springboks, wildebeest, gemsbok etc.
This is nothing special among game reserves and they all pretty much have them. So whether you are going to the Addo, Kruger or Amakhala, you are pretty much guaranteed to see the various antelope and such species. The roads are good for pretty much any vehicle. We have a Renault duster 4x2 and that handled even some patchy roads that had ditches but were not labelled 4x4 roads only. I would not suggest a sedan or fancy BMW for these, but the standard dirt roads pretty much all vehicles can handle. After going through the standard area, you then can access the predator section of the park, which houses all the cats such as lions, cheetahs and wild dogs. As the park is more of a conservation park than a game reserve, the cats are kept separate and fed by the park rangers than hunting on their own.
This does remove the game reserve feel to it as someone would want to see animals in their natural environment and not a fenced off area. This does more than likely guarantee sightings, but its not a true african experience. For children who don't understand the difference yet, they wont care though and just will be happy to see animals. Connor was to young to see them though, couldn't see over the car door through the window yet at that angle.
You can take photos with the statues though with toddlers. They like to touch and feel so this provided a little entertainment for Connor. Thankfully he just likes riding in a car.
Now the one disappointment was that we never saw any rhinos at all. They are kept in the main part of the reserve. I suppose to get a better chance of seeing them you would actually have to pay for a game drive in the park, but looking at the park itself and having worked on game reserves before, I would not pay the R495 a person for this personally. Its not a large difference from the self drive option at R240, but its for two hours and yes you have a higher chance of seeing more wildlife than normal, but personally I would just do a self drive throughout the day and see what happens. But that could be the game reserve snob in me talking, its not a comparatively bad price and it appears children under 5 get into the park for free as well. Game drives in the Kruger Park start at R2160 per person, although some lodges in the park offer different rates.
Wildlife Centre
After doing the Predator Section, we then wanted to stop by the Wildlife Centre. This area is naturally more fenced off than the rest of the park as it houses the predators who are not able to be on the reserve itself. They will either jump the fences or are simply not suitable for that environment. Most of these animals are being rehabilitated after being used for other purposes, which is why you can find tigers, black jaguars and others here.
This is where we stopped to take a snack break and visit the reptile section of the park. it is a very small building less than 100 sqm, and houses mostly snakes and a few other animals. The nice part here though is that there are areas for a family to have a braai/barbeque/grill in a natural setting. It was not very busy when we went there, but it was the 2nd of January and so all the holiday makers probably left already. You can see the facilities in our video here.
Restaurants
Now coming to the restaurant, we decided to visit the Neck and Deck Restaurant along our way out the reserve. This is also the restaurant where you can feed a giraffe with some goods purchased from the restaurant itself. Unfortunately it appears that the giraffe is actually vary wary of young children and it kept turning away every time Connor stuck his hand out to touch it. I would also be like that if I had numerous hands on me every single day. But it has a nice size plastic and steel jungle gym available and offers a wide variety of food options, but it is not fine dining. its a pretty standard south African restaurant. We had a toasted sandwich and some cheesy fries for Connor who normally loves cheese and love fries, but this one did not meet his approval. It had that gorgonzola blue cheese taste from one of the cheeses and so was a little rich for him.
The jungle gym is more than adequate for multiple children and they have a pool nearby, although no child minders so its the parents responsibility to look after your child, which should be standard anywhere in my opinion. Its your child, not the restaurants, and unfortunately in South Africa children can disappear from restaurants way to easily.
Summary
So what are our final Thoughts on This game reserve? We will rate it two ways, African Safari Experience, and Family Experience. From A African Safari view, this is probably going to leave you disappointed if you came all the way from overseas to see animals. Rather go and spend some more cash staying at a game reserve like Amakhala where I previously worked, I would suggest Woodbury Lodge. Visiting the Kruger is always a good option, and stopping by the Addo Elephant Park. African Safari Experience Rating: 2.5/5
The Rhino and Lion park comes into its element when thinking of a local family vacation. South Africans love the bush and braaiing, swimming and playing. This park offers all those options easily. Taking your kids out and having them run around the wildlife center while the parents make the food, play games, go out for a self drive, it just makes for good family memories. Yes if you want to have them go to a pool or a jungle gym, it means a restaurant, which is a smart move on the owners part as you will probably buy some food while there. Only the thatch café and the neck and deck have jungle gyms, while the Boma restaurant does not have kids play areas. The bike park is also situated at the Thatch cafe. Taking all of this into account, The final rating is: Family Experience 4/5
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