When small Streams turn into Rivers

[Pumbaa]

Nice shots of the bee-eater

A real pity that the cheetahs were so far away

The steenboks are so pretty. Look as if they are smiling

Lots of stripes They have the habit of always standing very close to each other

The steenbokkies are indeed always so cute and luckily this pair was extreme relaxed

[Pumbaa]

What a difference the shorter grass makes, Pumbaa!

A nice variety again.

Love the Gyppo goose in flight, plus the steenbok, not so easy!

And cheetah!

Totally right about the stennbokkies sometimes they stand there and when you reverse there are still there but the minute you lift the camera they do ran away like a flash

[Pumbaa]

Right on the other side of the road we even discovered a kori bustard



whilst a lot of carmine bee eaters were buzzing around as well also at that sighting we stayed as long as the kori was easily visible.



Already from far as on top the road was that straight we noticed another traffic jam and as we meanwhile got enough shots we carried on and stopped there and were again over the moon as we soon noticed another two cheetahs. Also they were a bit far away but not that far as the previous two and as from time to time a cloud hid the sun we tried to take pictures



and hoped that at least one of them was willing to show its face which they did.



In the beginning they were hiding under a bush but as it were two of them most of the time one was visible



and from time to time even both could be detected.



Luckily they stayed there quite a while so whenever clouds were hiding the sun we fired away but after a while they decided to carry on and to our luck they appeared again and now even stopped for a while on a small sand hill



soon followed from the other one and it even looked as if this one was missing its tail.



They carried on walking first parallel to the road but after a while they trotted deeper into the bushes although from time to time they were still visible until they finally disappeared completely behind a wall. Nevertheless it was so far such an incredible day for us and we were extreme happy that after the torrential rain during the first week not only the weather got better but also the sightings.



The rest of our drive until we reached finally Satara camp was then uneventful besides the fact that we noted after driving by the S100 that same was not closed so this will then for this trip the first gravel road we could drive......As it was also already time to check in we did so and whilst I was waiting in the queue there Timon grabbed the camera as in the many trees along the parking area first a crested barbet

[Pumbaa]

showed up and was more than willing to pose



and also a couple of bats we already noticed last year hanging there



could still be photographed.





Finally we got the keys for bungalow No. G168 and after we moved in we relaxed quite long time after that long and thrilling drive and only left camp quite late for our afternoon drive which led us for sure along the S100 which we enjoyed extremely although not much was around but we discovered a brown hooded kingfisher,



a Wahlberg eagle as well as this birdie on the ground



and as it was also meanwhile time to turn around we also stopped for this nicely posing young kudu bull.





Back in camp we lit the braai and had a lovely dinner until we fell once again into our beds.

Saturday, 18. February 2023 – Satara

Explored roads: H1-3 – S100 – S41 – S90 – H1-4 – H7 – S12 – S40 – H7 – H1-4

We were up early and even had a couple of minutes left to line up into the long queue of cars who already waited at the gate. It was such a lovely morning and with our hot coffee in hand we enjoyed the rise of the sun as an orange stripe could already be seen whilst waiting in the queue.

Soon the gate was opened but somehow we did not come far as soon we were stuck in a traffic jam and although we so far could not discover what held us up we supposed it were lions because we already often experienced such sort of traffic jam whilst staying in Satara and we were right we found lions on the road.



First we only could notice this couple out of whom the male was still extreme sleepy



But we already noticed from there that there must be more lions around as regularly stop lights could be noticed and then no car was moving any longer.



The queue only moved forward slowly but so everybody could get a couple of shots and now we noticed that it must have been a large pride with numerous members





To be continued…………………

[Lisbeth]

Pretty birds

I am happy that you got your cheetah sighting after all and even lions the next morning

[Richprins]

What luck you had this trip, Pumbaa!

Some great cheetah shots, never seen one without a tail!

The bats are awesome too!

Glad the S100 was open!

[RogerFraser]

Lovely pics of the Bats and very interesting to see the Cheetah without the tail .Lovely Lion couple .

[Pumbaa]

Pretty birds

I am happy that you got your cheetah sighting after all and even lions the next morning

Yes, we were so happy about the closer cheetahs - An animal we in fact do not see that often or better to say not regularly

[Pumbaa]

What luck you had this trip, Pumbaa!

Some great cheetah shots, never seen one without a tail!

The bats are awesome too!

Glad the S100 was open!

Yes the Norther we drove the more roads were already open

[Pumbaa]

Lovely pics of the Bats and very interesting to see the Cheetah without the tail .Lovely Lion couple .

We definitely could not complain about the sightings that day