Sun City, in northwestern South Africa, is well known for its casinos, hotels, golf courses and the Palace of the Lost City.

And just 30 minutes’ drive from the glamour is Pilanesberg National Park.

On a recent visit to Sun City, we went on safari. It started with an early morning hot air balloon ride. Early morning meant we were seated in a large open safari truck, by 4.45am and headed out to the national park.

The truck is run by Mankwe Game Trackers, and our guide Jeremy handed out blankets for the short connecting trip.

The drive was quiet at that tranquil hour, as few creatures stirred. At temperatures of about seven degrees Celsius, who could blame them for sleeping in?

Wrapped in several layers of clothing and the blankets, we made our way to the middle of the park from where the balloons would be launched.

On this morning, two balloons were going up. Brightly coloured in red, orange, black and yellow, they were gradually fired up.

Our group of 10 journalists from all over Africa clambered into the basket, and balloon pilot Brad Smith instructed us on how to position our bodies for landing.

Soon we were airborne. And there to welcome us was the glorious sun rising over a hill.

There is nothing quite as peaceful as floating more than 600 metres above ground. The world and all its cares fades away for the hour that you are up there.

Looking down through a pair of binoculars, I spotted wildebeest, impala and a hippo family frolicking in Mankwe dam.

The hour passed way too fast and soon we landed, smoothly. As the balloon was deflated, we toasted to a successful ride with a bottle of sparkling wine.

As we drove out of the park, we passed four white rhinos, a mother and two calves and one male, grazing near the road. On the side of one of the hills were some elephants and springbok.

In the afternoon, we had a brief chance to visit Sun City—the Bridge of Time, the Gary Player golf course and caughty glimpses of The Palace of the Lost City. There was not enough time to see the resort properly, so a return visit is needed.

We were back into the park the same evening. The game drive started at 4pm, and lasted about three hours. Just as we set off, we saw female waterbuck, more white rhinos and elephants.

One great thing about the wildlife is that it is not shy, so even as we approached, the animals were not spooked.

Hunting is not allowed in the park, but poaching is a menace. More than 100 rhinos have been killed in the past two years.

Our driver guide heard over the radio that lions had been spotted and we all voted to go to the area where they were. There are about 60 adult lions in the park. On the way, we came across a couple of giraffes.

The lions were a bit of a “disappointment”—six males lay in a small clearing. We watched them do nothing for about 15 minutes, and then started to make our way out of the park.

At about 7pm, we came across an elephant grazing by the side of the road, with half its body on the road such that we could not drive past.

We waited for about 10 minutes to see if it would move, but it stayed put. Our driver tried to get past, but Mavuso the elephant, as we later found out he was called, let us know who was boss in that territory.

He started walking towards us with his ears flaring, but didn’t seem particularly menacing. But this was six tonnes of wild animal coming towards us.

Adrenalin kicked in, with some people, understandably, diving under the seats and covering their heads. The driver reversed the truck. Mavuso paused and went back to his dinner.

However, half of his body still blocked the road. Fight or flight? Should we turn back or wait it out? The driver seemed unafraid, but cautious.

Other tour vehicles came up behind us and passed our truck. Needless to say, they didn’t get very far. The vehicles were forced to reverse slowly into a side road, and Mavuso lumbered past.

With a sigh of relief, and animated chatter, we returned to the safer ground of Sun City for dinner.