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Hi there,

can somebody help in telling me whether the Orpen shop is similar well stocked as the one in Croc bridge?

We are staying in February 2008 in Talamati and would like to do shopping in Orpen.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Hi everyone, we stayed at Orpen in bungalow no. 6 in beginning of September [1st week] and it was fantastic. They were busy building the one next door to us. They are very mod and comfortable and that night we were treated to a great rhino sighting at the waterhole where the webcam is. We sat at the fence and watched as 3 rhinos came out of the darkness and stayed around the waterhole for at least 4 mins, wallowing in the mud and grazing. There is a resident honey badger who made it his business to raid the camp the whole night but we were so glad just to see him so close. We eventually put our garbage bin on top of the fridge with a chair in front of the fridge and in the middle of the night he jumped onto the chair and tried to pull the bin over again. Lots of fun! Orpen is a lovely camp and the pool is great as well.

Thanks FRUIT BAT! Stayed at Orpen for the first time earlier this year! Quite an charming little camp. Stayed in bungalow no 1, although about at the back of the shop, it's awesome renovated and love the big veranda. Loved sitting at the fench at looking at the water hole. Had also a encounter with a puff ader at our veranda after our braai It's a shame we could'nt get any reservation for december but will take a look, when we stay at Satara...

I went into the shop at the end of Sept. just buying something to drink and altho I didn't stay too long it did seem to be fairly well stocked and I got the impression that it would have had most things the other shops in the smaller camps have.

A colleague of mine spent Friday night at Orpen, she woke to quite a noise at about 01h30 only to find honeybadgers raiding their fridge - she pack everything up and went back to bed forgetting to put something heavy against the fridge door - again about4h30 she was again awakened by a noise and again the honeybadgers were raiding the fridge. They are obviously accustomed to raiding fridges if accessible.

Stayed in #4 for 3 days in November. Nice, comfortable bungalows with good view of the waterhole. Only criticism is that the bungalows cannot be locked from the outside, so if you are staying for more than 1 night, as we did, you have to pack all your stuff and unpack when you get back for the night again.
Other than that, we enjoyed our 3 nights there, but did not get to see the Honey Badger at all

Mike & Trish Goss

We have just recently stayed at Orpen and enjoyed our stay there, found it to be a really nice little camp.


You can have a look at some pics of them.

We got allocated chalets # 8 & 9, which are newly refurbished and quite delightful and are to be our "home" for the next 3 nights.

The beds are very comfortable at Orpen!!!!!!!!! We stayed in No 10 and I wanted to bring the bed home with me.

All of the drives start on the main Satara road, but there is lots of choice. Many people recommend the Timbavati road, but if you take the whole day out you could go as far as Letaba and back or even Skukuza and back, or just dawdle to Satara and around there.

Also staying in camp and watching the water hole is an option.

What you see is always being in the right place at the right time.

I agree with Chirinda about the S39, the Timbavati road. It is one of my favourite roads. It covers so many eco zones.

I would also suggest going up to Satara and then doing the S100, another popular area. It would then be possible to "nip" over to the N'wanestsi picnic area. Its a lovely place to stretch your legs and get some beautiful views.

I would also recommend a meal at Tshokwane picnic site. I do think that they have the best selection of food, as well as the best presentation. I had a Kudu boerrie roll, but I saw their salads being served to a table next to mine and it looked simply scrummy. They also have a very refreshing homemade ginger beer at R5 a glass.

On my most recent trip there had been many Wilddog sightings. I had my own sighting close to Talamati. You should be able to keep track of recent sightings via the sightings board. Like Lion, they tend to stay put and sleep through the heat of the day. They start their greeting ritual in the very late afternoon. It is an experience of a life time. If you do see Wilddog, try to stick around until their ritual starts.

Good luck and have a stunning time

Hi Merandering Mouse
Yes the wild dogs are amazing. We have just come back from the 3 weeks in the park and were sooooo lucky we saw the wild dogs 4 times in the first 4 days then once more. On the S25 and near Skukuza we just couldn't believe it. Never seen the greeting ritual though
Here are a few photo's

The H7 to Satara can be one of the hottest roads in the park.

Wild dog, cheetah and the boring 5 can all be spotted (pun intended) along this road.

There used to be a Senegal Lapwing nest at the Tamboti turn off, where mum cheetah is often seen. I see BBJ, in this area often as well.

I remember reading just recently that it had been graded and was lovely and smooth again.

When we stayed for 3 nights in Orpen last year, we often used to drive the Rabelais Loop, S106 in the late afternoon and then sit at the plains just outside camp till gate closing, there is always something interesting to see there,mainly the plains animals but great all the same.

We just spent 4 nights at Maroela, and had some amazing sightings in the area. Within an hour and half one morning we saw Cheetah (with kill), Lion doing their thing, and Leopard (in a tree).

We also saw civet from camp and there's a rhino with a very small calf in the area that we saw on the sunset drive.

We're not good enough birders yet to let you know of any real "specials", but we did see a tawny eagle with a kill on the gravel roads near Talamati.

Enjoy the trip - this is definitely one of our favourite areas of the park so far. Next year a long trip to the North.

Stayed at Orpen Rest Camp in June 2009 and was really impressed by the standard of the bungalows. It wasn't our first choice of Camp but in the end was SOOOO glad we got to stay there. Going in June this year but couldnt get into Orpen so staying at Tamboti. Hear it is a lot more secluded with a real bush experience.

As for th badgers, What an experience. After chatting with our neighbours about the days sightings we wish each goodnight and goo spotting for the next day. Not 5 mins later our neighbour started shouting. I heard 'RAT' (my Afrikaans is limited). Then growling. Thought rats don't sound like that
Turns out it was the Ratel (Badger). Turns out he tried to raid there kitchen whilst they were awake. What an experience to see it close up. He visited us later that night. We had turned our fridge but he still gained access to our coolerbox by giving it a push off the counter. Dont be deterred I would have it happen to us all over again. LOVE ORPEN NOW FOR TAMBOTI.

Note: Would post pics of the badger but am unsure how ...please help)

We stayed at Orpen a couple of weeks ago. Our first time at the camp - hopefully not our last.
We found that our fridge had been raided on the first night - only the eggs and cheese had been taken though. There was meat in there that remained untouched.
We found the egg shells and the emply cheese packet lying under our car.
We decided to turn our fridge on the second night. About 5 minutes after going to bed I heard a noise on the stoep. My husband and I dashed out to find the honey badger on the kitchen worktop - he had climbed up by opening the drawers and using them as steps!!!!
I think he got more of a fright than us and ran off into the night.
We stayed on the stoep for a few minutes to check if anything had vanished, and he came strolling back onto the stoep, calm as you like, to see if we had anything else to give-away.
My mum screamed in fright - he didn't come back after that.
What an experience.
Kirsty