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I also noted that it is a Denham's Bustard - you lucky fish! I LOVE Satara area. Always wanted to go on a nightdrive or sunrise drive there - but the time we actually got the chance - they were fully booked. So cannot wait to hear all about that drive...

Wow, a Southern Red Bishop I'm still waiting for my first one in Kruger, would give several lion sightings for it
Also like your sunrise pic, pure magic
But after such a long time on the forum you should know that the S100 is not the best road to find cats I hope you drove the H7 later on, I saw all the big cats plus wild dogs there

Thanks a bunch haileyidaho, RonnieL, Melrockson, hilda, lion queen, Natio vR, Meerkitty, Sharifa, Bushbuddies and flying cheetah for following the adventures of melph and Dad



Thanks so much for your kind words H



Actually, it was all the nocturnal noises that kept me awake


I so appreciate your enthusiasm for my TR Mel
You rock


I'm one of those people that don't do mornings very well
But when there are sunrises like that on offer, one simply must get out of bed!


It seemed that no matter what road we took, all the kitties were seen on the other roads


Hello my Daddy!
You are really getting the hang of this posting business now
And yes, I know it might have been a bit of a pain waiting around for me to write up my journal every day, but if I hadn't, our trip would have been one big blur



Hi Natio
And welcome to my TR
Also thank you so much for the Denham's bustard ID
At the time I was excited to see what we thought was a kori, so this is a super-exciting revelation


And I thank you for taking the time to support my TR It is greatly appreciated


Thank you Sharifa
I think zebra are lovely any time, but to me they look even lovelier in that marvellous morning light


I feel VERY lucky now to have seen a Denham's bustard
Night drive coming up soon


I haven't been back through all my notes yet, but I have a recollection of some special sightings on the H7 one day....

Satara and surrounds continued again....

We got back to camp around 10am and checked out the waterhole through the fence
No animals, but still I got such a huge thrill out of just seeing the cam there


Lack of sleep provided the greatest challenge for me on this trip
I can go a few days on little to no sleep, but it was now 2 weeks since I'd had a decent sleep and my mind and body weren’t functioning very well on the sleep deprivation regime

So I thought I would try to have a nap, to perk myself up a bit for the night drive that evening.
Dad couldn’t sit still so I suggested he go out lion hunting and meet back at camp for lunch

Unfortunately, due to the nice lady who came to clean our bungalow, I didn’t get any sleep
Nor did Dad find any lions. But he did see ground hornbills!!
Awesome sighting Dad!!


When Dad got back we went to the shop for supplies and to check the sightings board.
But I almost wished I hadn’t.
When we took the S100 that morning, all the lion sightings were on the H7 that we had originally planned to take!!!

So that afternoon we took the H7 hoping the cats might still be lazing around

Stopped at Nsemani Dam and watched maribou storks doing their thing
Such intriguing birds


And who could go past taking a pic of vultures against such a beautiful cloudy blue sky


Driving along and all of a sudden we noticed a familiar smell Like a cow paddock back home in Oz.
And then everything made sense when we came round a bend and saw a huge herd of buffalo

This one seemed fascinated by the bottom in front


Big daddy buff


Quite an impressive bum shot


And a cute bubba buff


A little further on we came to a waterbuck family, complete with little ones
They were very shy and scampered off into the tall grass before we could get any decent photos.



But Papa waterbuck seemed very relaxed resting in the grass


Had a slight hold-up at a zebra crossing – a real one!!!
The little one was just so cute on it’s dainty little legs



And finally a warthog posed for us


This handsome fellow showed us his awesome set of horns


And I think this is a yellow-billed kite?

Hi Mel and Mel's Dad. Some lovely sightings and photos. The grass around Satara looks quite high. Must have made it difficult to spot some of the game, especially cats lying down.

Looking forward to the next episode.

Hi Mel!

Ahhh... so it was a Denhams Bustard!!! I never knew there was such a thing and so I just learnt a new bird - explains the pretty colours, what a sighting!!!

Nice work (Melph's Dad) with the Ground Hornbills - such pretty birds!

I'm impressed with your picture of the warthog (I've never been able to get a decent one), and I just LOVE the Kudu Bull... one of my favourite animals.

Another lovely instalment, Mel... looking forward to the next one!

Hi Mel and Mels Dad,

Your lovely TR continues and what lovely sightings you are having.

How wonderful and fortunate you are to have had your dad along to share this wonderful experience with and then to be able to send him out to collect photos for you while you are trying to catch up on some sleep.

Proof that older people do not need as much sleep as the younger folk

I love this and I quote:

"Driving along and all of a sudden we noticed a familiar smell Like a cow paddock back home in Oz."

Making use of all your senses to locate wildlife

Great stuff Mel

Melph I decided years ago that Satara's sighting board is not to be trusted........... It's just impossible that day after day people would pop up those red magnets 20 in a row on the H7 and the day we drive on it, we see nothing and suddenly 20 red magnets appear on the S100??? Is there a memo handed out at the reception and we are the only ones that don't know about it???

Any how..............lovely waterbuck photos and that Warthog is beautiful!!

That is the most beautiful Warthog picture I have seen in a long time Melph68!

I'm giggling about the thrills you get from the web cam! So glad you enjoy to see it with your own eyes!

Awesome picture of the Ground Hornbill taken by your dad! They are beautiful birds!

You saw quite a lot of different kinds of animals. Love the Buffaloes, Waterbuck, majestic Kudu, Zebra with the cutest little one, and of course the Warthog!

It is great reading about first time experiences
Takes me back, way back to when I first saw similar creatures

We have red bishops visit our garden...certain times of year have to dodge them on the road to work....
BUT have never id'ed a Denham's Bustard

Go to KTP and see thousands of Kori's the spelling of their name eventually changes
cause they always look like something else

For sure Mr. and Mrs. Red Bishop would also have been the hightlight for me - Especially the red blob is awesome.

Thanks Mel

Hi Mel & Dad,

Thanks for all the great sightings . I just love the little buff and the cute little zebbie crossing the road in it's own time . Me and SO normally only glances at the sighting board and ignore everything on it . My motto is not to chase after anything and rather enjoy what crosses my path that I chose to drive that day . Thanks for sharing your sightings .

For me the H7 also stands for a big variety of animals, it's seldom quiet on this road It seems that lions are much harder to find if it's important for you to see them. Since they are not so high on my wishlist I pop into them again and again
I agree with hilda, beautiful pic of a very confident warthog

Love the maribou shot and the buffs walking in single file

Warthog looks like he just had a shower

Love the majestic kudu and the cute baby zebra

Hallo Melph68,
I like the picture of the handsome warthog - when I look at the "smooth" face, I think she is a lady These big buffalo herds can be quite scary sometimes, but always a special sighting

I think your Eagle is a Wahlberg. The easier way to id the Yellow-billed kite is the yellow bill and the deeply forked tail