The Great Escape

[RogerFraser]

Catching up a few episodes . Love the Sable sighting still to get a sighting of them ourselves .

Nice looking campsite at Satara .

pearl-spotted owlet is very

[Mel]

Hahaha, I was about to comment on the lack of cats when I had scrolled down most of your episode. Well, and there he was

I would agree that that was not really a quiet afternoon, but I know that feeling all too well.

The dark giraffe looks kinda strange.

Love the pearlie though. Such a cute bird

[Pumbaa]

Caught up again, PJL,

and what a trip and sightings you so far had - For sure lions overloaded Incredible shots

Also lots of brilliant leopard shots and not to forget the buffaloes and for sure the sables and all the birdies

Simply amazing

[PJL]

It is always like that, Peej! When you look back at the pics you realise you didn't see "nothing".

Love the ostrich especially! And quite a nice ellie!

Was the lion roaring?

Lovely crisp zebra pics, and very lucky with the pearly!

Very much a roaring lion there RP. And yes some luck there with the pearly - particularly with it so close to the road

To me it looks as if the lion is snoring It could also be the beginning of a yawn

Beautiful pearlie

Here the pics are all together, but if you imagine the length of the road and place a photo here and there, they aren't that many sightings

Nice to see hippos moving

Yes Lis, the pics make it seem a very entertaining drive, but it was very quiet for long sections which was a shame.

Catching up a few episodes . Love the Sable sighting still to get a sighting of them ourselves .

Nice looking campsite at Satara .

pearl-spotted owlet is very

Thanks Roger - it was great to see that Sable herd. Sounds like they've been around that H10 area quite a bit lately

Hahaha, I was about to comment on the lack of cats when I had scrolled down most of your episode. Well, and there he was

I would agree that that was not really a quiet afternoon, but I know that feeling all too well.

The dark giraffe looks kinda strange.

Love the pearlie though. Such a cute bird

That giraffe had spent too much time on the sun bed
And yes those pearlies are very nice little owls

Caught up again, PJL,

and what a trip and sightings you so far had - For sure lions overloaded Incredible shots

Also lots of brilliant leopard shots and not to forget the buffaloes and for sure the sables and all the birdies

Simply amazing

Thanks Pumbaa

[PJL]

Thursday July 15th

After our travels the day before we had a bit of a lie in and only set off on our morning drive at about 7. We planned to have a skottel breakfast at Timbavati after heading up the H1-4 and down the S39. On our previous stay at Satara, it had been a great area for game viewing so we had a good sense of anticipation for the morning. Just outside the gate there were some hyena sniffing around at something



With a lot of cloud around it was cold and quite overcast, but there was some colour in the sky over a herd of buffalo



The rest of the trip up the H4-1 was exceptionally devoid of activity, other than some kori bustards and a bateleur taking off







On the northern end of the S39 there were a couple of big kudu and a steenbok







As we hugged the Timbavati riverbed we were very fortunate to spot some distant lions through a tiny gap in the bush… they were extremely hard to see. We caught another view of them further down the road but they were a very long way off





Those were literally all the sightings we had over the 70km drive to Timbavati picnic site. Again, there were big areas that had been burned and we began to wonder if the timing of our visit meant that herds hadn’t moved back yet since the fires. Either way, it was still too early for brunch so we adjusted our plans to continue to Nwanetsi which is one of our favourite picnic spots.

Heading down the S40 all was quiet, and as we travelled along the H7 we thought the lions from the night before might still be around, but they had unfortunately moved on. We continued on down the S100 and then the S41. The only sighting of note before Nwanetsi was an African jacana at one of the weirs on the S41



Once at the picnic spot, we pulled our skottel gear out and started a nice brunch along with a bit of a family discussion. Everyone was in agreement that something was a bit ‘off’ around Satara. The general game numbers just didn’t seem quite right what with great swathes of burned areas. But also, and perhaps more importantly, there were some problems at the camp which I won’t go into in detail about, but might well have made it illegal in these covid times. As a result, we decided to adjust our last 3 nights and head back down to Skukuza. In retrospect it probably sounds like a very hasty decision, but we are living in times when being flexible is important.

Driving back along the H6 we saw some hyenas fast asleep



Once at camp we started the packing again… not something I had been anticipating but it all went quickly and smoothly so that before long we were on the road heading south again.

[Lisbeth]

........ there were some problems at the camp which I won’t go into in detail about, but might well have made it illegal in these covid times.

Now you have made me terribly curious

I like the bateleur take off a lot and the koris are also great

[Pumbaa]

Great to having spotted these lions, PJL

plus stunning hyena, kudu and kori shots

[Richprins]

Ja the cold can make the aminals vanish, Peej!

But not bad sightings!

The Timbavati road can often be long and boring, as can the H1-4....or not!

I am also very curious about Satara...not exactly the most famous camp for control of late...

Lovely jacana!

[Mel]

I've never like Satara in the first place. Probably because it was an extremely unkempt camp when I visited it for the first time.
And we know what it is with first impressions.

Although your sightings were quite nice, I can see why the days may have appeared a bit slow. Especially compared to your sightings around Skuks.

So, awaiting leopard number umpteen.

[RogerFraser]

Love the Hyenas & Bateleur takeoff .

Curious to hear about the issues at Satara but good to be flexible .I will be staying in Orpen in two weeks time for a few days so hopefully the game has returned a bit . I have only ever stayed at Satara once and found it a bit too busy and we also had a run in with an OSV camping outfit that refused to allow us to camp by the fence as they had "booked" it even though they were not there when we arrived .Those were the early days would have given them a different answer now days .My daughters fiancé also had issues at Satara a couple of years ago with noise levels of the APU activities . Now days we prefer the smaller camps like Orpen/Tamboti Malelane etc .