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I have just returned from my January 2011 trip. I was there from 18/1 to 29/1. The Satara area is in fantastic condition from the recent rains with grass tall enough to hide an adult buffalo. The dams are full (Piet Grobler dam on the Timbavati river was overflowing) and even the N'waswisontso River was flowing fairly strongly. Sightings for me were good with some days nothing and other days producing excellent sightings.
I had the good fortune of meeting Granjan and Impisi who were also staying at Satara.
The highlight of my trip were two Black Rhino sightings. The first sighting consisted of two Rhinos close up and the second sighting of two Blackies on the other side of a dam.
Lions always fill my car with adrenalin and I was fortunate to have numerous sightings of these magnificent beasts.
Leopards proved very difficult to find and finally I was lucky enough to spot a Leopard on the Timbavati Road near the Ratelpan bird hide. This was the first time I have ever seen a Leopard on the Timbavati Road. Unfortunately by the time I stopped my car to photograph this cat she had disappeared into the undergrowth.
The second Leopard was seen near Vutomi Dam and this male was resting in a Sausage tree about 30 to 40 metres from the road.
On one early morning drive I travelled on the H1-3 and it was still very dark and my headlights picked out the shape of two cheetahs resting in the road. I managed to get a couple of photos before another motorist passed me and drove too close to the cheetahs who then moved off into bush never to be seen in the darkness again.

On my way out of the Park I was lucky enough to come across a pack of wild dogs. I managed to get one reasonable photo before the pack passed me and as I was towing my cravan I could not follow them.
Another exciting sighting seen near Gudzane Dam was a Civet. I was not able to get a photo of him due to my trying to get 'a little bit closer' and before I knew it he was gone.
Another first time for me was a Mole Rat that scurried across the road near the Bangu waterhole. Again no photo available.
I will continue with this report tomorrow.

Some roads were more productive than others as is normally the case.
Productive roads.
S36. Had a number of lion sightings and a fair amount of general game. Good elephant sightings.
S37. Trichardt road. Also a number of lion sightings and a lot of general game.
H1-3. Lion, cheetah, general game plus a herd of elephant of at least 70 individuals.
S39. Timbavati Road (north of the picnic spot.)Leopard, and lots of general game.
S33. Vutomi Road. Leopard, lion. Vutomi dam was full of game.
S34. Munyweni Road. General sightings
S41. Civet and a fair amount of general game

Quiet Roads.
S100. Strangely quiet. Even general game was scarce.
H1-4. Not much activity other than the occassional elephant.
S39 Timbavati road south of the picnic spot. Very quiet. No action to speak of.
H7. Only travelled this road in the heat of the day up to the S36 intersection. Not much action.
H6. Very quiet.
S125 N'waswisontso road. Small buck and a couple of elephants.
S126 Sweni Road. General game here and there and not much else.
S90. The grass was so long even the buffalo disappeared into it. A couple of elephants and a couple of jackal on the road itself.


I will now post a few pictures of the more exciting sightings.

The grass was so long in places on the S90 that even a herd of buffalo could hide! Here a young bull peers over the long grass.




This nice tusker was feeding on the S90. He has what I can best describe as a pinched ear.



On the S90 all jackal sightings were done with the jackal on the actual road. This guy stood long enough for me to photograph him before disappearing into the long grass.




Only when the buffalo herd crossed the S90 could you get a full frame photo of one of these strong grazers.




I will post more photos later.

The Alpha male. This male was a big boy and even his walk had an air of arrogance. This was taken near the high level bridge crossing the Sabie river.



This young male was one of three lions on the S37 (Trichardt Road). There were 2 males and one female. I was to see the three a couple of days later.


The three lions then moved off into the bush and I continued on the S37. Five kms later I came across this honeymoon couple and he was full of scars and she was one feisty female feline who was not scared to show her emotions to the male who looked twice her size.


Her her aggression/speed was frightening and I was sitting in the car! He looked totally dominated by her.

Thanks Bornfree. That was without doubt the most aggressive Lioness I have ever come across.
Here are some more photos. This was taken on the H1-4 and there was a group of 11 ostriches running up and down for what looked like fun.



One evening on my way back to camp I came across the resident troop of baboons alongside the Nwanetzi river on the H1-3. Dad says I will look after junior while you groom my back!


Without doubt the highlight of my trip were the Black Rhino sightings. I was travelling on a back road when I came across 2 blackies lying down about 30 to 40 metres away. As I stopped they got up and trotted towards me to see what had disturbed their siesta. They were almost at my car and one turned around and went back to the bushes. This one came vitually up to my car. I could not believe my luck. Here is the photo of the close one.

Thank you for your kind comments Kamadejo, Crested Barbet, Esto, Twigga, Sylvia.C, Aat, Rookie2009,Wbevents, Wildflowergirl and Flutterby.
I came across this elephant bull having a mud bath and a long slow drink. I stayed with him for 15 minutes as he slaked his thirst. I really enjoy watching elephants!


On the S37 I came across the 3 lions I had spotted a few days earlier. The 2 males and 1 female looked young and although in the same area I felt they were a nomadic trio.


More elephant fun. This time at Vutomi dam three bulls were enjoying playful sparring with each other.
I watched them for over half an hour.


One morning I overslept (I am usually first at the gate) and after a rush left 20 minutes after the gates had opened. Anyway I stuck to my original plan of driving south on the H1-3. About a kilometre before the Nkaya Pan turnoff I saw 2 male lions what I call the Paw stage. Huge paws, no longer a cub but not yet ready to make a kill. They were running on the tar road with ears picked up. Looked excited, nervous and eager to re-unite with the pride. Driving slowly along the rest of the pride appeared in the bush. Watching the reunion was a pleasure. I took a couple of pics but with the low light the photos are slightly blurred. I continued to track them in the bush which was very thick. Then I saw the Nkaya Pan turnoff and drove onto it as I was hoping the pride would cross it. They did and here is a photo of one of the pride males. Just look how fat he is!

After the pride had crossed the Nkaya Pan road they disappeared into the bush. I carried on with the H1-3 and low and behold I came across another pride of lions this time lying in the road just before Kumana Dam. Here is a pic of 2 young males.


The S36 north of the S125 proved to be a lion hotspot as well for me. Here two females were resting right next to the road about 2km south of the Nhlanguleni Picnic spot. In this photo the female had just yawned and pulled her facial muscles back to give a very aggressive look.


Riding back To Satara one midday on the H1-3 I saw an elephant herd in the distance walking towards the road. I could tell it was a big herd. As they started to cross the road I began photographing them. They just kept coming and coming. I estimated there were at least 60 elephants in this herd. After crossing they simply melted into the bush.


A day or two later I was back on the H1-3 and had left camp at 04h30 (back to my normal routine of being first to leave). It was still very dark and I had just passed the Sweni road intersection when my headlights on brightbeam picked up two cheetahs lying in the road. I got as close as I could on dipped beams and started to take pictures with my flash. Unbelievably another motorist arrived, passed me and stopped right next to the cheetahs and of course frightened them off. I managed to get a couple more photos before they disappeared into the darkness. If only he had parked next to me we could have had them longer. But some people........


I will post more photos later.

Thank you for your kind comments Wildflowergirl, Elsa, and Magic Guarri and Bornfree.
I travelled the S36 several times during my trip and on three occassions I came across this same bull which was in musth. He took great delight in keeping me from overtaking him (2 occassions) and one one occassion made me reverse for a kilometre. The other bulls in the area showed him a great amount of respect. A very tall elephant with a nice set of tusks. In this photo he was showing his displeasure at me for getting too close.


Early one morning I came across these two Black Rhinos 'somewhere on a back road'. This sighting made my total sightings for this fine animal to four. This was beyond all my expectations!


After all my Black Rhino sightings had finished I still had not taken a decent pic of a White Rhino until I came across this shy one on another 'back road'. I had to use my long lens and after taking the photo he was off.



I will post a few more pictures later tonight.

One morning towards the end of my trip I arrived early at Vutomi Dam and was greeted with the sight of 5 lions ( 3 females and 2 cubs) lying down on the dam wall. I stayed with them for some time before another vehicle arrived. They told me a kilometre back there was a leopard in the tree. Off I went and sure enough the Leopard was resting in a Sausage Tree. I noticed he was blind in his left eye but he was otherwise in excellent condition.
The following photos show 2 of the females and one of the cubs and the resting leopard.






Just one more post to go...

This is the final posting of pictures for my recent trip.
I thought I would show a picture of Balule Bridge or should I say water over the Bridge. It was an amazing sight. When I arrived at the Bridge there was a young French man standing outside his small car with a map in his hand. He came up to my vehicle and asked me in broken English if I was going to attempt to cross the flooded river!!! The first thing I said he should get back into the car because of the danger of Lions. But he was in no hurry and asked me how he could get to Olifants which I duly told him.


I saw this crocodile cruising upstream in the Timbavati River at the Ratelpan Bird hide. I know it is difficult to imagine the size of a croc via a photo and is in water but this guy was looong!


I was on my way out of the Park and was travelling on the H1.1 near Delaporte Waterhole when I came across a small pack of Wild Dogs on the move. As I was towing a caravan I was unable to reverse or do a u turn and was able to get only one fair photo of one of the dogs who had a severe limp in his left rear leg. I only hope it was not caused by broken glass!


Finally I would like to all of you who posted comments on my trip report. I really enjoyed interacting with all of you.

Hi adw, I think you spotted the famous wild dog, Kamea & her pups! Were there 4 of them? They are often seen around De La Porte and recently two of them were seen limping!!

Have a look at this thread:

http://www.sanparks.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=38545

ADW thanks so much for the trip report
The sightings and photos are fantastic

As you may know I''m one of the biggest Satara fans out there!Satara is open and game is plentiful. You cannot drive out of Satara in any direction and not see animals. I'm going end of March so I can't wait

Around Satara I have done the following. Dividing it into good and bad roads
Quiet
s36 without much luck.
H6 very quiet
S39 (South of Timbavati) no sightings for hours
s90 didn't see much there
s41: Quiet, but saw lions on this road
S125: Extermely quiet. Except a huge herd of Buffalo. 300strong
s126: A quiet road for me. But looks promising. One I will always take.

Good
H1-3: Most productive road for me around Satara. Sightings every 5mins
H1-4 Also plenty of general game. Lots of Rhino and Elephant
H7: Brilliant road for me. Lion, buffalo, Rhino, Elephant seen every time
s100: Seen plenty of general game but no preditors

Have not yet driven:
Trichard Road
S39 North of Timbavati

Thanks Crested Barbet. Cheetah2111, the S39 north of Timbavati picnic spot is a must. The S125 is usually very quiet but you do get the occassional surprise, like a Leopard but even if it is quiet I always enjoy the drive on it.
Funny how some roads work for some and not others. The H7 has never produced exciting sightings for me and I find the traffic too much especially the tourist jeeps near Orpen!