Pilanesberg National Park - Affordable Transport from Johannesburg and Pretoria

More affordable transport options:
The reality is that a transfer between Johannesburg & Pretoria to Sun City and Pilanesberg is expensive. It is expensive for the transfer operator as well - fuel, wear and tear, driver, insurances, overheads and depreciation on vehicles all add up. Just Google it and you will get rates around R1600 to R2200 one way! We get it at R1500 one way and pass that on to you.

There are ways to get to Sun City & Pilanesberg area at a better rate, but it is more "inconvenient". I will pick you up at Sun City at a time agreed on at Welcome Centre Bay nr 5, or where we agreed on if you have a rental car.

1. Car rental.
1 pax - est @R1600 (car+ acc) plus R2500 trip = R4100 total iso R4500, also save 1 night acc Jo'burg
2 pax - est @R1750 (car+ acc) plus R4000 trip = R5750 total iso R6000, also save 1 night acc Jo'burg

Probably the best option, you are looking at a 2 day rental if you want to do a 1 day trip with me. It also means you have to overnight in the area. The minimum nights on weekends are 2 at the Hotels, Lodges and Resorts, but you can get Saturday as 1 night only at Guest Houses in my Village at R500/single or R650/ double room. I'll book it for you with pleasure if you do a trip with me. A small car will be under R600 for 2 days, and fuel and tolls about R500. This is perfect for business people stuck in Jo'burg for the weekend, and you can stop at De Wildt Cheetah Research Centre on the way back. It is about 15 min out the way, their program starts at 13h30. So instead of paying around R1000pp for doing a day tour, you can pay them direct and get it for about R300pp. Another alternative is stopping at Lesedi Cultural Village that starts at 16h30, about R450pp

2. Scheduled Shuttle. Add R100 for 2 x taxi in Sandton at R50/trip
1 pax - est @R1750 (shuttle av+ acc) plus R2500 trip = R4250 total iso R4500, also save 1 night acc Jo'burg
2 pax - est @R2250 (shuttle + acc) plus R4000 trip = R6250 iso of R6000, but save 1 night acc Jo'burg

There is an affordable guarranteed shuttle that runs daily from Johannesburg and Pretoria. Pickup places can not be changed, and they won't wait for you. It has to be prepaid, and no refunds if you miss it. You will need to make your own way to and from the pickup points. Rate is R500pp one way for 2 persons and more. The 1 person rate if there are other people already booked will be the same, but if no other bookings then the 1 person will have to pay for 2 pax. Note if this 1 person rate is paid, and more persons book later, there will be no refunds - it is just the way it is. So the way to book for 1 pax is to check for other bookings every day, and to book as soon as there is other bookings, or the day before if none. Takes 2,5 hours total, and airport drop offs might have preference on the way back. If you want to do the 12h00 Jo'burg departure and you are in Sandton or Rosebank, you will have to add a trip to the airport by the Gautrain.
Schedule

3. Lastly there is a way to do it by minibus. I have done it from Pretoria. It took about 6 hours and was under R150 one way. I didn't feel threatened, but would do the Gautrain from Jo'burg to Pretoria. R43 from Rosebank/Sandton & R125 from the airport. The taxi rank is about 8 minutes walk from the Pta station. Expect to wait 1 hour for the minibus to fill up, but I went early and had to wait 2 hours plus another hour at Rustenburg. Minibusses from Rustenburg go to Ledig 3 km's from Bakubung, Mogwase 2 km's outside Manyane and Sun Village 1 km outside Sun City. You might get chomped by lions if you try walk to Bakubung as you have to go through a bit of the Park... this is now if you get it right to sneak past security :)