Rhino and Lion Park – a day just out of the city

This weekend, I treated myself and a little friend to a day out at the Rhino and Lion Park (www.rhinolion.co.za) in the Cradle. It's about 30 minutes out of Randburg, so in the 'bush' but not. It's a lovely area, big plots, cycle lanes, hills and grasslands. I've stopped opposite the entrance while out cycling with Daddles, where they have animals (lions and tigers) in enclosures as part of a breeding programme and to get animals healthy (I think) but never actually went inside.

The entrance fee was R130 for adults and R90 for kids (they take cards). After you've entered the park you drive along dirt roads (a 4x4 would've been a more comfortable choice in car!) past mixed herds of animals. They have set up feeding areas along the road for the grazing animals, complete with salt licks.

The first heard we saw was a mix of wildebeest, impala and a snoring buffalo next to the road. Along the way we also saw sable, gemsbok, waterbuck, ostriches (one relaxing in the middle of the road), zebras, eland, a rhino, squirrels and a mongoose.

We drove through to the Predator enclosure just in time for feeding time. The first stop is the wild dogs. Most of them were in a field to the left having a go at a big rack of ribs but three were sitting in the shade to the right. They got up and starting sniffing the cars, rubbing the exhaust of one and chewing the wheel cover of another. From there, it’s through to the Lion enclosure. After queuing like peak hour traffic we got in just in time to see a cow (or something similar) get dumped off a ranger vehicle. The pride jumped on it and got going. It was quite scary to hear the growls coming from a pile of lions. When we’d had enough, it was a drive through the very big cheetah area, but we didn’t see any.

The next stop was the animal crèche where they keep the exotic, baby and sick animals. We played with the baby lions – there were 3 month olds and 6 ½ month olds to choose from, we took the younger ones. Three of the four were asleep and the fourth was very playful. They were very sweet little things. We also saw baby giraffes, clouded leopards, a black leopard, jaguar, Siberian tigers, white tigers (one was trying to stalk the hyena in the enclosure next door), blue cranes, bat-eared foxes and so on. It is R30 to play with the Lions and you have to pay for each animal you want to interact with, like the grown cheetah. They only take cash in the crèche but do take cards at booking office a short walk away at reception. There is also a reptile section though we didn’t go in.

The crèche is also part of an area that has picnic areas, a restaurant and kids play area. And lots of squirrels.

At a few points along the drive you can see the Coca Cola Dome and Sandton in the distance, which reminds you that you're actually quite close to home but still surrounded by a game park. It was a very dusty experience as well, there is red dust everywhere! It looked like we'd been off-roading in the dessert. I assume it's better in summer?

They also have accommodation, game drives and Wondercaves.

So all in all, well worth the visit! It’s a great day out of Joburg without really going out of Joburg.