Before we start with the Satara Top 10, just a couple of “General pics” of my two days in the Satara area.
Number 10 – Gudzani Dam & Girivana
It was my first visit to the Girivana waterhole. It is a pleasant little drive, and there were herds of zebras, giraffe and blue wildebeests along the way.
On my first visit it was rather quiet. A male Pin-tailed Whyda was perched on a branch nearby, as was this pretty Woodland Kingfisher.
On my second visit I was astonished at the number of Marabou storks that had congregated at the waterhole. There were hundreds and hundreds. And for every one bird on the ground, there was another in the air. I have never seen anything like this.
I stitched a couple of photos together.
And a few of the birds in flight.
Last year I visited Gudzani dam for the first time. There was one other car, and the lady asked if I could believe what I saw. Apparently I is quite a large dam, but when I was there, there was not a drop of water. My thoughts were dry, desolate wasteland. I had no idea what it was supposed to look like, but it was a sad sight.
What a difference 12 months can make. When I drove up, I stopped in my tracks. The sight of the water simply took my breath away. Now I know what she was talking about. There were 2 elephants some distance from each other on the other side of the dam. When I came back an hour or so later, the 2 had met up and were enjoying the water.
Number 9 – Sunset drive (… and a few minutes from the next morning’s drive)
The sunset drive on the first night I spent as Satara was fairly quiet, but it did deliver one or 2 special sightings. We started off with a Southern Ground Hornbill family.
This giraffe was on a mission somewhere.
The sky was a beautiful pink when the sun set, and then there was a gorgeous moonrise.
The guide wanted to see if the Cheetah with four cubs was still in the area, so we set off on the H6. We stopped where he thought they would be, and after a few minutes a head popped up. Not the best sighting, but at least I could say I saw cheetah.
The plan was to drive on the H6 east, and back via the S100. We saw blue wildebeest, and zebras along the way.
Then there was a mini traffic jam. We saw this in the grass about 10m from the road.
We paused for a few minutes, but there was not much sign of life other than a small stretch of a leg or the flick of a tail. We could see another small traffic jam a few 100m ahead of us and decided to leave the “dead” looking lions and go and see that had caused the 2nd traffic jam. That turned out to be a very nice sighting, but I am going to include that in my number 1.
The drive up to now had taken up a lot of our drive time, and the driver advised that we would not have time to go back to camp via the S100. We turned around and drove back the way we came. There was still no sign of life at the lion sighting.
The rest of the drive was quiet. We back drove along the H6, then turned onto the H7, drove on one of the non-public gravel side roads, back on the H7 and back to camp. Sighting included lots of impala, zebras that looked like lions for a few minutes!, a couple of jackals in the distance, and lightning quick glimpses of an African Wildcat and a Large Spotted Gannet. And millions of bugs crowding the spotlight, and by default all passengers sitting close to the person holding the spotlight.
Just before the end of the drive, we came across a Verreaux’s Eagle Owl sitting in the middle of the road. As we approached, he flew up, but fortunately landed in a tree next to the road. It posed for a few seconds, and then flew off.
Fast forward to early the next morning, and we saw another owl, probably the same owl from the previous night. This time it was accompanied by 2 fledglings. I was still quite dark, so the photos are not great, but this was such a cool sighting.
Number 8 – Elephants
As was the case with my stay at Mopani, I saw some of the biggest herds of elephants in the Satara area that I have ever seen. 90% of them on the S100. To be honest, other than a handful of giraffes and a few impalas, I do not recall seeing any other animals on the S100 other than hundreds of elephants. It is no secret how much I love elephants, but it was even getting a bit much for me!
But then I get closer to some of them, and I forget that I have seen so many of them already, and I am humbled to be in their presence once again.
Some of the ellies on the S100 – I had to keep a very watchful eye on both sides of the road. The herd was so large, and there was one behind almost every bush.
I saw this one early one morning on the H6. As he approached me, I thought he was lifting the tip of his trunk, But it turned out to be a hole in his trunk. It did not look great, but he seemed to be coping and in good condition.
Is this a “Mexican Standoff?
This was one of my favourite elephant encounters. I was driving back from the Nsemani dam. He was approaching from the right, and I positioned my car to try and get a head on view, and allow him space to cross the road without any risk.
What a magnificent animal.
Number 7 – Birds
Some photos of the feathered residents of the Satara area –
Bateleur and a pair of LBRs on the S100 –
A Brown Snake eagle –
A flock of queleas photo-bombing a snake eagle –
This Red-billed hornbill tenderising his meat in preparation of his meal was one of my favourite moments.
And 2 lifers that had me as excited as if they were my first lifers –
First a Harlequin quail and then a Common (Kurrichane) Buttonquail –
The photos of both birds are terrible, but they had to be take very quickly as these birds scamper away very quickly when a car approaches. But I am so happy to have these evidence photos!
On the way to Skukuza I came across a Jacobin cuckoo. This was a very unexpected sighting as I thought they would all have left by now. It was also calling very forlornly – I am not sure if it was not well or just very lonely.
Number 6 – Sweni Road
The bird highlights are a good introduction to one of my favourite bird moments. I was driving on the Sweni road. About half way there is a little loop shaded by a huge tree. I stopped there, and was astonished at the number of birds I was able to spot there. On 2 occasions cars would sneak up behind me. I would drive off and come back behind them so I could spend more time in the marvellous spot. I couldn’t get photos of every bird because they were flitting about between the branches. That was ok though, because this was just such a wonderful spot, and I just enjoyed it. I did get a few pics though, and here are some of them –
The Mario sunbird was a favourite of mine.
I also saw this female Black Cuckoo Shrike.
I saw a few animals and birds before I reached this spot – Kudu, hornbills, and a Roller.
While the first half of the Sweni road was one of my highlights, I cannot say the same about the 2nd half. The corrugation was really bad. The rest of the drive was very, very quiet ito sightings. I am convinced there a direct correlation between the road conditions and number of sightings in some places – the more corrugated the road, the less I see, maybe because I really have to concentrate on the road?
Number 5 – Martial Eagle
This bird deserves an episode of its own. It is one of the most breath taking raptors I have seen to date. I wish I could see them in flight more often than I have – their wingspan is quite impressive. I saw this one just past Gudzani – the conditions were overcast, so the background it horrible.
The light conditions for my encounter with this one were MUCH better! He was perched in a tree somewhere between Satara and Kumana dam. These birds have a way of looking at their environment in a way that makes them seem like Royalty.
Number 4 – Lions
Apparently you can see a lot of lions in the Satara area. I only saw lions twice – on the game drive and again the next day between Gudzani Dam and the Gudzani waterhole. The people who had been at this sighting for a while advised that there were about 9 lions hidden in the grass, and the white lion was with them. I spent about an hour at the sighting, but only these 2 raised their heads. They were still pretty close, and despite the tall grass, I could see them quite nicely.
Number 3 – Satara Camp Sightings
The Satara camp delivered a number of cool sightings. On the day that I arrived this agama and lizard were in the tree next to my chalet as I off loaded the car. Surprisingly they did not offer to lend a claw!!
I bought a scorpion torch especially for this trip. Up to now I haven’t used it much. While I waited for the game drive, I lifted a brick with my foot, not expecting anything. You can imagine my surprise when I saw this little scorpion in broad daylight!
Earlier in the day I saw there was a good area for scorps near the restaurant, and I went over there as soon as we got back from the sunset drive. I knew seeing a scorpion under the black light would be cool. But actually seeing it is VERY cool. I saw one in the first place I looked. I saw quite a few during my stay, but the light does seem to irritate them and they would scurry away. Holding the normal flashlight to check for weird bugs and snakes and the black light, and a stick and the cell phone to take photos was also a challenge with only 2 hands.
I also saw Blue waxbills, Natal Spurfowl, warthogs, banded mongoose, and FoF (Frog on Fridge) and this African Hoopoo and cute squirrel.
I came back to camp for lunch and heard a very noisy bird in the tree outside the chalet. After a few minutes getting a stiff neck trying to locate it, I finally spotted it – one of the highlights of my Satara stay, and a bird I had not seen in Kruger since 2012! What a pretty Brown-headed parrot!
And last but definitely not least, the resident African Wild Cat came for a visit.
Number 2 – Badger
There were 3 animals that I really hoped to see during this trip – Eland, Tsessebe (check), and badger (Check, and check!)
I was looking for lions that had been seen a few kms north of Satara but lucked out. I drove back to camp and noted a car parked sideways up ahead.
Suddenly a black and grey shape appeared from behind their car and for the 2nd time during my trip I literally squealed with delight. I was still far away, but I had to act fast to get some evidence pics of a fast moving badger! I was so ecstatic, I could not stop smiling. As I drove closer the badger disappeared into the grass. But I was so happy!
I would see another one on my way to Skukuza, but unfortunately I could not get any photos of that one. But 2 badgers in one trip – very, very, very cool for me!
While I am on this sighting – 13 months ago I would have been able to see both badgers for miles as it moved off the road, and get a million photos because there was no vegetation. Nothing. The land was barren and heartbreakingly dry. Especially where I saw the first badger. This year the situation was completely different. As soon as the badger stepped off the road, it disappeared. As was the case with the lion and cheetah sightings on the sunset drive, sightings were definitely affected by the tall grass. And as much as I would have LOVED better photos of the badger, I would rather only have glimpses of it and know the animals have food than get brilliant photos while animals are starving to death.
Number 1 – Cheetah
And then a couple of sightings that makes me smile every time I think of it. All were at dusk or at dawn, so the light was not perfect, but the sightings were better than perfect.
As I mentioned earlier, we saw some cars a few 100m away from the lion sighting on the night drive. We drove closer, and this is what we saw –
This was a much better sighting than the little head we saw sticking up in the grass a little earlier!
Now that I knew where the cheetahs were, it was my first destination on both mornings. The morning after the sunset drive I was fortunate to see the mom and one of the cubs.
On the morning I left for Skukuza I hit the jackpot. As I drove up I could see they were much closer to the road than before. The 4 cubs were out in the open and playful.
It turns out there weren’4 cubs, but 5! This is the only pic I could get of all 5 in one frame.
I think everyone can agree this mother cheetah is doing an incredible job of raising 5 cubs – it must be a full time job to keep them safe and all of them, including herself fed.
If I had to choose 1 number 1 moment of the entire trip, this would probably be it. Seeing the 6 cheetahs was such a privilege. It is a moment that will stay with me forever.