Flavour of the Month May 2012: S35 Lindanda/S37 Trichardt Rd

[serval]

S35 Lindanda Road & S37 Trichardt Road is a pleasant alternative to the main highway between Tshokwane & Satara is to take this quieter detour.
I have enjoyed undisturbed & pleasant sightings in the early mornings and particularly in the late afternoons even when in the Nwanetzi area further up the Trichardt rd,when others race along the tar road to get to camps on time before closing.

[Flutterby]

S35 Lindanda Road & S37 Trichardt Road

From Nigel Dennis - Where to watch game in the Kruger National Park:

From N'wanetsi there is an easy but also usually fruitful drive back to [Satara] along the H6 tar road. It is also possible to head south again on the S37 Trichardt road; the turnoff is a few kilometres onto the H6. You will have to allow plenty of time to look out for game along this road, as the route traverses almost 60 kilometres of the eastern plains before joining the main H1-3 from Skukuza to Satara camp! In my experience, only the first dozen kilometres of the Trichardt road are productive, so unless you wish to make a very long drive exploring remote back roads, it is better to turn around after a short while and head back to the H6.

[Flutterby]

S35 Lindanda Road & S37 Trichardt Road

[Richprins]

Link to Sweni Bird Hide here: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=340

[serval]

Perhaps it is the solitude one can experience which makes all the photos so special to me - I was sole viewer at each of these sightings.

[Flutterby]

S37 - March 2010

[mposthumus]

Serval Fluts

Great roads! more so because I walked in the area during March 2011 doing the Metsi Metsi trail 0Y

[cheetah]

Amazing sightings there Serval!!

Drove the end bit of the S37 and the S35 twice in Feb and twice in March. Generally quiet.
But on one trip I saw a massive herd of Zebs! Hundreds :D
Otherwise it is good for unmentionables, jackal, kori bustards and the other open grassland chaps 8-) If only there was a cheetah waiting for me there one day

[Richprins]

Hello, Serval!

Ja, Cheetah! The road is right along the zebra/wildebeest migration route from Satara in the summer to Sabie River in the winter!

Have seen them too, 25 years ago!

[Richprins]

Quoted from Siyabona Africa:

One of Kruger Park’s most famous stories is the 1904 saga of Harry Wolhuter (one of the Park’s first rangers). Wolhuter was riding on horseback along what is today the Lindanda Road (S35), when two lions attacked him shortly after nightfall.

Toppled from his horse, one of lions seized him by the shoulder, and dragged him almost 100 metres, into the bush. At this point, the semi-conscious ranger managed to retrieve his sheath knife from his belt and stabbed the lion.

The mortally wounded lion then dropped Wolhuter who managed to climb into a tree before the second lion came after him. Wolhuter believes he was saved by his dog, Bull, whose persistent barking at the second lion distracted it. Wolhuter’s assistants then arrived, and carried him back to camp.

After resting a day, he was carried in a litter, to get medical assistance. The party arrived at Komatipoort four days later. Wolhuter was patched up by a doctor and then sent by train to Barberton hospital where he stayed for several weeks.

Wolhuter’s knife and the skin of the lion he killed are on display in the Stevenson-Hamilton Library at Skukuza. Wolhuter was known by his Swazi name, Lindanda. The name is derived from 'lihiya', a type of loincloth worn by the Swazi people, and which Wolhuter himself was fond of wearing.

One of the above pics is of the Lindanda Memorial, where the stump of the tree in which Wolhuter spent the night is preserved!