Thursday, 2 June, 2011
Lionpalooza: Game Driving Near Satara Rest Camp
I woke up at 3:00 a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep. Delayed jet
lag? Maybe I've just been running on adrenaline for the past few
days. While I lay awake, I heard dogs yelping - hyenas, I presume.
They were all over the place in Botswana, but we haven't seen any
here. Maybe we'll get lucky. I got the others up just after 5:00 so
we could be through the gate at 6:00. We made it out at 6:15. Good
enough.
Today we're going lion hunting. Thus far, we've been denied, so
last night Tom and Linda checked our book, Cameron Ewart Smith's
“Getaway Guide, Kruger National Park, 3rd Edition,” and chose a
route in the area of Satara Rest Camp, known for its prolific wildlife
and some of the highest lion densities in the park. According to
the book, “Satara must be one of the best places in Kruger to spot
the big cats.” If we don't find them today, we are big losers.
Our route: S140, S106, H7, S12, S40, H7, S100, S41 north to Gudzani
Dam and then south to N'wanetsi Picnic Site, H6, H1-4 to Satara
Rest Camp, H1-4, H7, S106, S140 to Talamati. We packed big giant
breakfasts (boiled eggs for Linda and me, leftover sausage with
bread and cheese for all) and a bagful of snacks (Pringles,
crackers, Goldfish, fruit) for our lengthy journey.
Right outside the gate, a cute little black-backed jackal was
waiting for us to take its photo. Yes, it did remind me of my dog
Spike, who was unceremoniously dumped at camp so I could make this
trip. The jackal was distressed by a brown snake-eagle in a tree
right beside him. I wonder if the eagle could have snatched up the
jackal, if it wanted to. The jackal seemed to worry that it
could.
Black-backed
jackal
A big obstinacy of buffalo blocked our path on the H7. After a few
minutes, Tom passed some other cars that were waiting and eased our
way through the stupid cows. There's no telling how long they'd
stand there in the road. We preferred looking at the giraffes
further along the way on the S40.
Breakfast
time
Then, near the intersection of S40 and H7, we had our first lion
sighting! There were two lionesses laying in the tall grass about
100 yards off the road on a knoll overlooking a waterhole. While we
were watching, one of them got up and sauntered off.
Lions!
Finally!
Near the lions, we saw hippos and another jackal. At this point,
we've stopped being impressed by the various antelope, they're so
plentiful. Then we got to the S100, also called the N'wanetsi River
Road, where we had some of the most rewarding wildlife viewing of
our trip.
Monkeying
around
Elephants at a watering
hole
Halfway down the S100, right beside the road, was a MALE LION
trying to take a nap. We were within six feet of him. Awesome! At
one point, the lion decided we were annoying and gave a sleepy
little half roar. It wasn't terribly frightening, but it was enough
that we rolled up our windows!
King of the
jungle
Gudzani Dam, on the S41, was both beautiful and replete with
wildlife. I should explain, in South Africa, “dam” doesn't refer to
the barrier which impounds the water, but to the impounded water
itself. The hippos with their babies were very cool, and there were
also crocs, giraffes, zebras, waterbucks, impala, and African
fish-eagles.
Mama and
baby
Leaving Gudzani, we headed south on S41 and soon came upon a pair
of lionesses laying in the road. Woo-hoo! More lions! The cats
weren't disturbed by all the staring and photos. They just wanted
to nap in the sun.
So
sleepy
Can't stay
awake
Next we drove to the N'wanetsi Picnic Site, alighted from our car,
and walked from the picnic area to a covered viewpoint overlooking
the N'wanetsi River and the ridge forming the border between South
Africa and Mozambique, a few kilometers in the distance.
Tom and Jana at
N'wanetsi viewpoint
View toward
Mozambique
We finished our breakfast/lunch at N'wanetsi and headed to Satara
Rest Camp to refuel, since we were in the neighborhood and petrol
stations are few and far between. Satara was like a city compared
to the isolation of our bush camp the past few days. No wonder
Satara is so popular, though. The wildlife viewing in the area is
fantastic!
South Africa, the
"Rainbow Nation"
At 2:30 we returned to Talamati, and Linda and I went to reception
once again to pay her conservation fees, since it proved too
difficult to accomplish yesterday. I'd paid one day of her fees
yesterday, so she still needed to pay for seven more days. This
time, Linda's credit card wouldn't go through. The receptionist
said their system was probably down and to come back later, but it
was already late in the day, and we reminded her that we'll be
leaving this camp early tomorrow. So she said no problem, just pay
at our next camp, Letaba, and if the credit card doesn't work
there, we should get money at Letaba's ATM and pay in cash. This
was payment attempt number four, in case you've lost track. Ha!
At 4:00 we went back out to try to find a leopard. The tiny glimpse
we had yesterday was just not satisfying. This time we stayed close
to Talamati. We slowly drove a few kilometers west on S140, then
turned around and returned to camp at 5:20. No cats, just a few
elephants.
Talamati
fence
Tonight I fried up some bite-sized beef, green peppers, onion,
tomato, and corn. Tom and I had chakalaka with ours, of course.
Tasty, if I do say so myself, though the beef was a bit chewy and
would have benefited from the crock-pot treatment. The one gadget
we forgot to pack!
High temperature today was 80 degrees. Very pleasant. Though it's
gotten down in the 40s every night, the cottage hasn't gotten below
the low to mid 60s. With an extra blanket, it's quite
comfortable.
