Ratel Pan Hide

[Bushcraft]

Please post any information or pictures of Ratel Pan Hide

[Toko]

Ratel Pan Hide is about 4 km north of Timbavati Picnic Site on the S39. The hide faces west and morning is the best time for .

[Richprins]

Piet Grobler Dam:

(Ratelpan Bird Hide to the south)








By aat in 2014:

Satara.
After an early morning drive we decided to take a book with us and to go to a hide. Some drinks and snacks with us and go, to Ratelpan Hide.
Arriving , bringing camera’s and other supplies to the hide. Nobody there so taking position.

After just a minute we heard something approaching the hide.
One of the beautiful antelopes, a male Bushbuck.

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and

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One minute later…..
At once a “cry” just next to the hide (left hand side) and our male Bushbuck took off and gone…

Huhhhhhhhhh ? (some question marks in our eyes) what is this ?

Just a few seconds later….
We heard something at the other side , something running….. and

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A Lion !! ??
Mouth open, heart pounding a bit but capturing the lioness in the riverbed

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And then showing her face to us. She was just on her own, looking around but no other lions

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She disappeared at the other side of the riverbed

Then we looked at each other and started with something like pfffffffffffffffff, huhhhhhhhhhh, ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh and then stumbeling with “ we just walked there a few minutes ago” !

Thinking: A few minues ago we left the car and walking to the hide but as always , first look around if etc…..
So this lioness was close to us when we entered the hide and the “cry” was a warning mhhhhhhhhhh

After some time other people entered the hide and told us they had seen two male lions, 5 km ahead.
We told them the experience with the lioness and they looked at us with big eyes…. , here ? close to the hide ? Yes, here… 15 minutes ago…., (with a big smile)



So… going to a hide … take care and if you go to Ratelpan Hide, don’t think about this story (smileeeeeeeeeeeee)

[Richprins]

Pumbaa 2018:

We stayed quite a while at that spot but realized more and more cars passing by and so we only turned around to also found the parking area at the Ratelpan hide also nearly fully occupied. Now at least we got an impression how it can be at the holiday periods in the park. Normally we are for a long time the only people at that hide but today all the others had obviously the same idea as we.

Nevertheless we swallowed the bitter pill and entered the hide and even found a single free bench and so we made us comfortable and waited what might come across. Greatly all the people in the hide were relatively quiet but not the hippos out of which a proud mom presented her offspring to us.



Also around the hide itself lots of reeds could be seen and our feathered red ones were busy in displaying also here and obviously playing the clown is making extreme hungry!



The female was also not that far and tried to imitated the male as she started to fluff up as well



at least it looked so or she was simply shaking her feathers! A masked weaver was also busy in building a nest and he was really hard-working and looking around that maybe a female might come along.



The red “bumble bees” were extreme active in flying from reed to reed attracting a female





and as soon as one flew by the feathers turned into the “Hola Chica” modus!



The longer you stay and the more you looked around, the more birds came across and although from our present viewing position – all the benches and consequently the complete hide was occupied and changing our position a bit limited – we spotted a very well camouflaged thick-billed weaver



and also a resting pied kingfisher but same was nearly hidden by branches and finally an interested females landed on one of the reeds as well and soon on her coat’s-tail a male as well.



The behaviour of one couple sitting on the extreme left made me a bit perplex as he was permanently photographing into one direction I could not see anything so I scanned a bit more careful the area as well as all the branches and finally I triumphantly discovered a branch on a branch – another European nightjar sleeping on a branch!



Pity was that where we were sitting the nightjar was not very good visible so I simply hoped that we still will have later the possibility in taking a couple of more pictures of this cute fluffy ball.

[Richprins]

Kruger Sightings
@LatestKruger
1:30pm
2 Lion stationary
"Lionesses lying close to the river bed."
S39, at the Ratel Pan
Near Satara
5/5
Tinged by Alberto - Matimba Bush Lodge
4:19 PM · Apr 26, 2023