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Evening bushdad, if you have Google Earth installed you can have a look at Talamati here
24°33'19.41"S - 31°33'22.87"E
It gives you a pretty good idea of the distances from the rest of the world plus layout of the camp.

It's the first bushcamp I ever stayed in. I was so struck by the family feel of the chalets. Very comfortable, indeed. I am sure that you will enjoy it immensley. It shares so much of the same eco zone as Satara and Orpen in terms of potential drive, that I am sure that you will be familiar with the area.

Gauging from the many trip reports I have been reading, it seems to be a good place for Sable spotting.

As mentioned by other forumites as well, Talamati definitely offers sunset/night drives.
Its a bit more expensive (smaller vehicle), but we've had an excellent experience on the one we went on.

However, although it is mentioned as an activity, I'm not too sure that they do walks from there as well.
I think it has something to do with the number of guides available.
Normally (I think) there's only one guide there.
They therefore need to get more guides from Satara in the case of a walk and I think with the Satara walk being a favourite, this is difficult to achieve.

Civet & serval are regularly seen on sunset/night rides.
It is also lion, cheetah, rhino & sable country.
The most cheerful face in the park belongs to Patson, who is part of the furniture there.
As him about sightings, he knows it all.

Hi Can anyone suggest a good route from Crocodile Bridge to Talamati. We want to leave after 10am. Is this enough time?

Hi Goafrica,

I think you may struggle to get there in time. It will take 5h30 at the normal speed limit to get to Satara from CB. You will most certainly have some sightings so your average time is reduced significantly - I suspect it would take most of the day.

Best Route - H4-2 to LS, H10 to Tshokwane, H1-3 towards Satara, take the S125, then the S36, then the S145 to Telamati

Why not leave earlier?

Enjoy anyway.

Hi Mikath,

Talamati is one of the bushveld camps and it is delightful. It is situated between Satara and Orpen gate. It has 2 hides and you havea good cahnce of seeing all the big game from the hide. It is also a good area for seeing cheetah and sable antelope.

Mikath one of my favourite camps in the park - great game sightings, beautiful flora and the hide at the waterhole can be very very rewarding. You will definitely not be disappointed!!

Mikath, Talamati is (so far) my favourite bushveld camp.
It's smack in the middle of cat country, with cheetah in the area. There is also a herd of sable to be found, in case you haven't seen them before.

The camp itself is nicely laid out, with plenty space between the fantastic bungalows.
The bungalows are large enough for a couple to live in, with a nice terrace. They are (were?) being upgraded, and the upgraded bungalows are a joy to see.
There are only 11 bungalows, so quiet is almost guaranteed, and due to the fact that there are 2 hides it's likely that you can have one for yourself.

It appears that the original Talamati topic went AWOL, I'll dig through my photos to see what I have.

Hi all,

Can anyone tell us if the units at Talamati have fridges?
The accommodation description doesn't mention any...

Thanks

Hi there - yes, good size fridge in all the units. We have just been there and it is looking beautiful - long green grass, saw a huge tusker on the plains one afternoon - still to identify and lots of general game. Enjoy!

We spent 2 nights (14 & 15 May) at Talamati and thoroughly enjoyed it (Also our first time).
Our only complaint was the fact that we were a little restricted with the drives and ended doing very much as you are planning to do - longish drives.

The bush is really thick at the moment with plenty water around, so be prepared to search.
The location is superb, the opportunity of seeing rare sightings really exists (Sable, Side Striped, Wild Dog etc) and the people are amazing.

We did a sunset drive with Meshak (spelling) and saw Serval, AWC, Lion, Elephant, White Faced Owl, Pearl Spotted Owl.

I made a point of visiting the hide every morning before going out in the morning, but unfortunately nothing seen except for a Giant Eagle Owl (Vereaux's)

We were there in April this year. it is a beautiful camp !!! 15 huts. !!! be on the lookout for leopard as well :
We went to sit in the hides in the night ( and early mornings as well) with a torch and no one said we could not use it.... there are Bushbuck as well if you're lucky you can spot them from your house.

By all means, use a torch/light at hides. Just try not to shine it directly into the eyes of nocturnal animals, thereby blinding them.