After I booked and paid for my Satara stay I saw that accommodation had opened up at Punda Maria. As that camp had always been my first choice, I was really in two minds whether to change my booking or not.
In the end I decided to keep the Satara booking for two reasons – there were more roads to travel in the Satara area. And as fabulous as the Pafuri region is with its trees and scenery and birdlife, I had a better chance of seeing predators in the Satara area. Although the majority of my lion sightings have not been spectacular in the past, I continued to live in hope. And well, it seems the Park heard my wish and delivered a few early Christmas presents in the most epic way ………
A story about Lions and a Buffalo
As I left Satara on the Sunday morning, the sun was not yet up. I realised that I had never seen a sunrise on the S100. I still have not seen a sunrise on the S100 because for some reason I decided to turn right onto the H7 instead of the S100. I thought the sunrise from Nsemani would be just as good. The best decision ever!
Less than 1km from Nsemani the car in front of me stopped for a lion crossing the road. It was the white lion from the Friday afternoon. I approached slowly and noticed the other male lions also approaching from the right.
It turned out that they had a kill just about 2m from the tar. One of the males decided the middle of the road is a great place to relax.
The third male walked straight past to the buffalo carcass. All 3 males were very big. Then the fourth male arrived. I immediately knew he was “The Boss”. He just had a look about him. 
The white lion and one of the other males were taking a nap in the long grass. The other two were snacking on the buffalo. Then I noticed more lions approaching. At first, I thought they were from the same pride, but they seemed very hesitant.
Before they could get too close the male lions noticed them. Three of them were up in a flash and chased the other lions away before returning to their breakfast. I took this photo as the one male returned and walked behind my car.
I very seldom have lion sightings like this, and my camera worked overtime. I snapped away merrily. 
Killing the buffalo and chasing other lions must have been hard work and after about 90 minutes with them all 4 plonked down in the grass for a well-deserved rest.
After my morning drive I went to check on them again, but there were too many cars. Later that afternoon I went back and was able to find a spot with a good view. The white lion was still a flattie, but “The Boss” and one of his brothers were feeding.
After a while the one went to lie down.
“The Boss” continued to eat.
At one point I adjusted the pool noodle on my window and it made a squeaking sound. “The Boss” gave me a look that made it clear what he thought of me and my pool noodle. It gave me goosebumps.
It had been raining, and a good shake was in order.
Then all 4 went for another lie down. I took a few more pics before moving on. 
Unfortunately, the white lion never got up while I was there, and I only managed one photo of him. 
It was an incredible morning and afternoon, and I would have been ok if I did not see more lions during the trip. But the Park had other ideas………
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A story about an Epic Sunset Drive
I decided to go on a sunset drive on my last night at Satara. Just after the S100 turn off we found a Wahlber‘s Eagle, a couple of Woolly-necked storks and a pair of Ground Hornbills. The Guide then drove to the Sweni road. It was fairly quiet with only a few elephants. I was looking at the elephants when the guide suddenly called “Lion!” A young male lion ran across the road in front of the truck. We then realised it was a small pride and they were trying to get past the elephants.
One young male crossed the road behind us.
He seemed to disappear for a while, but we waited until he came back to the road to join his pride. The sun was perfect for these photos.
The lioness was also close by.
They seemed to disappear into the bushes and we continued on as far as the Welverdiend waterhole before turning around. When we reached the spot where we found them, they were relaxing not too far from the road. This one was lying on a little mound of sand and looked so nonchalant!
It was a pretty cool sighting, but that was not the end of it. As we drove past the Sweni waterhole, the one guy shouted to stop. We had just started to use the spotlights, and he shone one on some moving shapes that were approaching us from the river. It was another pride of lions!
They did not stop to drink but kept on walking towards us. We soon realised that there were cubs as well. They crossed the road in front of the truck. There were a couple of lionesses, 2 huge males and 7 or 8 cubs. It was just fantastic.
The first male was quite impressive.
A couple of the cubs stopped at the truck. This one seemed to have something in his paw.
It was the closest I have ever been to lion cubs. They were so cute.
Another one plonked himself down on the road. 
The second male was the last to arrive, and as he crossed the road the cubs followed him into the dark.
The beautiful full moon followed their shadows until they were out of sight.
The rest of the short drive back to camp was quiet. We saw a pair of Spotted Thick-knees – only the 2nd time I’ve seen them in Kruger. We also saw a little Scops Owl on the road. And just outside the camp gates we found a Verreaux’s Eagle Owl (more about him in the Raptors story). I have never gone on a sunset drive at Satara that didn’t deliver amazing sightings, and again this one was no exception.
I thought that after the lions with the buffalo and these 2 lion sightings that that would be it as far as lions were concerned. The Park, however, is a gift that just keeps on giving …….
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A story about Lions and a Breakfast Buffet
I decided to drive from Tamboti on the H7 to Satara and then via the H1-3 to Skukuza. About 8 km from the camp I came across a roadblock.
It turned out that a pride of lions had killed not one, but two giraffes during the night.
The one carcass was right next to the road. The majority of the pride was at the other carcass, and so were most of the cars. The male lions that I saw were all still fairly young, but just look at the size of this paw!
Because most of the cars were at the other carcass, I had more than enough space to get a good view of the lions feeding. The sound effects were equally impressive. As with the other lion sightings, my camera worked overtime.
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One lion looked like he was going to start eating on the neck of the giraffe, but then he dozed off for a few minutes.
One lion obviously enjoyed the fact that this carcass was not too crowded and continued his breakfast without a care in the world.
A few lions had walked into the road.
Even though they killed two giraffes, the one lion still looked at this giraffe with some interest.
I watched them feed for a little longer.
I spent more than an hour at this sighting before leaving. By now more cars had arrived and I thought I should give someone my spot. I also had quite a long drive ahead of me to get to Skukuza.
I counted about 12 lions that I could see, but as I did not get a view of the other kill, I don’t really know how many lions there were.
I also wondered if the reason for the crowd at the other kill could have been due to the fact that the pride was the one with the white lions. As I drove off, I was in two minds whether I should go back and wait for an opportunity to see. I will always wonder, but I also know that if I had stayed, I would have missed out on another special gift the Park had in store for me. Because as you know, in the Park, timing is everything.
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A story about a Mega Pride
As I approached the dam wall at Nsemani dam I could not believe my eyes. Coming at me head on was the biggest pride of lions I had ever seen.
I counted at least 18 lions, but I think there may have been 20 or 22. It was just incredible to see them walking towards me.
The pride was made up of lionesses and young males. As they approached, I had to close my window because some of them walked within touching distance from my car.
It was an incredible sight. Some lay down on either side and behind my car. 
As the stragglers caught up and more cars arrived, the pride moved off the road and lay down a few meters away.
After a while I drove the few meters to the dam, had a quick look around before coming back for some last photos.
I drove away completely speechless. In less than 3 hours I had 2 of the most incredible lion sightings of my life. Add to that the lions on day 1 and then the same lions with the buffalo kill and the sunset drive, it would have been greedy on my part to ask for more.
I would have two more lion sightings before leaving the Park (read about them in the Big 5 story). Not quite as epic as the rest of the sightings, these last two encounters would however be a nice ending to this incredible trip.