A malaria-free Big Five park, two hours from Johannesburg.

From the airport, without a guide.

Hire a car at OR Tambo and drive: the N1 or N4 out of the city, then the R565 towards Sun City. The hotel is on the R565 at Boshoek, twelve kilometres before the resort and eleven from the park. It is tar the whole way and signposted throughout.

South Africa drives on the left, like the UK, Ireland, Australia and Japan. If that is new to you, the road here is an easy one to learn on - it is open highway most of the way, not city traffic.

Or do not drive at all. We run a shuttle from OR Tambo and back, so you can land, be collected, and arrive without ever touching a steering wheel on the wrong side of the road. There is a shuttle to Sun City and back as well. Both are arranged when you book - tell us your flight number and times.

Remember which hemisphere you are in.

Our seasons are the opposite of Europe and North America. Winter is May to September - dry, cool mornings, warm afternoons, almost no rain. Summer is November to March - hot, green, and thunderstorms in the late afternoon.

For seeing animals, winter wins and it is not close. The grass is short, the bush is thin, and everything has to come to the waterholes to drink. Summer is greener and prettier, with newborn animals about, but the game is harder to spot and the middle of the day is very hot.

Either way, go out at first light or late afternoon. The middle of the day is for the pool.

Which means the timing works in your favour. May to September is when most of Europe and Britain takes its summer holiday; it is the best game viewing of our year; and it is our quietest season, because South Africans travel in their own summer. The bush is at its best and the hotel has room. If you are planning a longer stay in those months, say so when you enquire.

Rates are in rand, and per room.

Rooms start at R1 510 per room per night - not per person, which catches visitors out. A family room that sleeps four is R1 850. Conservation fees for the park are paid separately at the gate, and a guided drive in an open vehicle is arranged through reception.

South African rand are worth considerably less than they look to most visitors; check the day's rate before you convert in your head. See rooms and rates.

Pilanesberg, Kruger, Madikwe or Addo.

If you want a malaria-free safari in South Africa there are a few real options, and you should choose on the facts rather than on whose advert you saw first.

Kruger National Park

The biggest and the best known, with the widest variety of animals. But Kruger is in a malaria area - the risk is seasonal, lowest from June to September, and prophylactics are usually advised. It is also four to five hours from Johannesburg, or a second flight.

Madikwe

Malaria-free, genuinely wild and far quieter than Pilanesberg. But it is a closed reserve: no self-drive and no day visitors. You stay at a lodge and go out with their guide, which costs several times what a room here does. About four hours from Johannesburg.

Addo Elephant National Park

Malaria-free, famous for its elephants, and you can drive it yourself. But it is at the other end of the country, about an hour from Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) - it belongs on a Garden Route trip, not a Johannesburg one.

Pilanesberg

Malaria-free, all of the Big Five, tarred roads and self-drive allowed - roughly two hours from Johannesburg. It is smaller than Kruger and busier than Madikwe.

Put simply: if you want space and solitude, go to Madikwe. If you want the greatest variety and you do not mind the tablets, go to Kruger. If you want to land, drive two hours and see elephant the same afternoon, with no prophylactics and no second flight, this is the one.

An honest picture.

This is a comfortable three-star hotel eleven kilometres from the park gate, not a luxury bush lodge with a private concession. You will not fall asleep to lions outside the tent. What you get instead is a proper bed, a pool, a restaurant, a gym and a waterpark, at a fraction of what a lodge charges - and the same animals, in a bigger reserve, a short drive away. There is also a private reserve on the estate itself, with sundowner drives that stop at the dam for a beer, and boma dinners around a fire.

The difference is in how you are charged. A lodge inside the park charges per person, usually with meals built in. We charge per room - R1 510 for two, R1 850 for a family room that sleeps four - and you eat what you feel like from the menu. For a family, that gap is the difference between three nights and ten.

For a lot of visitors that is the better trade: spend the money on a longer trip rather than on two nights of thatch.

Booking for a group or building an itinerary? See tour operators and coach groups.

Asked by people flying in.

Do I need malaria tablets?

No. Pilanesberg is a malaria-free area, all year round. It is the main reason families and older visitors choose this park.

How far is it from OR Tambo airport?

About three hours by car, depending on how you get through Johannesburg.

Do I need a 4x4?

No. The roads here and inside the park are tarred, and an ordinary hire car is fine.

Can you collect me from the airport?

Yes. We run a shuttle from OR Tambo and back, and a shuttle to Sun City and back. Arrange both when you book and send us your flight details.

When is the best time for game viewing?

May to September - our winter. Dry, cool and the bush is thin, so the animals are easier to see and gather at the waterholes.

When should I come if I am travelling from Europe?

Your summer, May to September, is our winter - the dry season, the best game viewing of the year, and our quietest months. It is the easiest time to get rooms and the best time to see animals.

Is English spoken?

Yes, everywhere - English is one of South Africa's official languages and the working language of tourism.

Can I combine it with Sun City?

Easily. Sun City is twelve kilometres away, and many guests do a day there and the rest here. See near Sun City.