Flutter No. 6 *

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29 September Letaba – Satara

We woke up to a howling wind, and packed everything up for our move to Satara. The Brat was happy to leave the north as he wanted to find cats, and has declared that we are never going further north than Satara EVER again!! -O

The drive was very quiet all the way down to the Olifants Bridge. There we found a whole spoon of Spoonbills and a gaggle of geese, although it was very difficult trying to take a pic while being blown around by the wind.



There were lots of monkeys who kept us entertained for a while.



We can still see you!



A mother’s love.



Just before Ngotso we came across 8 hyenas in the road!!! Some action at last!! They were extremely relaxed and were not bothered by our presence at all. They were obviously hungry – the little ones were trying to eat each other, and they were all very interested in our green ribbon which was fluttering madly in the wind. -O They were keen to check it out but some stern words from my dad kept them away. Other cars soon arrived and we had a mini traffic jam. One little one decided to give someone’s tyres a taste test...the Brat got some pics of that.

Excuse the overload of pics, but I love watching these oft-maligned creatures!!





You taste good!



You....not so good!! (I borrowed Dewi's tongue filter here!) -O



Hello cutie!!



Love you mom!





Ouch!! That hurt...pick on someone else!!

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The video doesn't want to upload so it will have to wait!

29 September Letaba – Satara cont.

We left the hynies behind and found this beauty!! It’s been a while since we’ve seen a Martial Eagle in the park so we were suitably excited.



Then, just past Ngotso, a few cars stopped on the side of the road. Three lions doing what lions do best...nothing! They were quite far off and not providing much excitement, so we left them to it.





As we could only check in at Satara at 2pm, we took the long way round, via the S90, S41 and the S100.



How many oxpeckers does it take to peck a giraffe?



I’m sorry, but these are rather ugly beasts!! -O



This steenbokkie wasn’t too worried about us!





A Bateleur on the S41.



We were getting close to the S100 and the megapride!! Would we see them??

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29 September Letaba – Satara cont.

At Gudzani we found some impala and a Saddle-bill stork, then we got onto the S100. I’d heard of so many sightings of the megapride on the FB sightings group so I was really excited. Did we see them? NO! All we saw were lots of waterbuck, some bamboos and some birds!!







We made a quick detour to Nsemani and then went to check in.





We’d had a great rhino sighting during our morning drive. 6 rhino deep in the bush that then crossed the road in front of us!

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29 September Letaba – Satara cont.

We checked in at Satara and spent a couple of hours enjoying the birds in camp. We saw a lot more Grey Hornbills than we normally do.



Especially for Toko!



We were very chuffed with the Buffalo Weavers in camp...we haven’t seen them in the park for ages!







For our afternoon drive we took the H7 to Nsemani, up to Girivana, then down the S12 back to the H7. It was a very quiet drive except for a Martial eagle on the S12. It was on the ground, obviously having just caught something.



It then took off and landed in a tree quite far off, but we could clearly see the leguaan in its talons.



A very quiet Nsemani.



We still had some time before gate closing so we decided to drive down the S100 until we had to turn back....again nothing....but this time I really mean NOTHING!! We wondered if something had been seen further down, because a lot of traffic caught up with us on the way back.

S100 Rush Hour!!
View My Video

We got back to camp as the gates were closing, and I started dinner - spaghetti and meatballs...it took about an hour to get the water to boil...those hotplates are a joke!!! We did have a nice surprise that night, but I’ll let the Brat tell you about it!

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Finally managed to load the hyena video.

View My Video

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So, if you have read the Brat's diary you will know that an AWC visited us in camp. This was a first for us so generated much excitement but let me tell you what happened....

We were all on the verandah when I looked up and said "Oh look...there's a cat." Then it suddenly clicked that you don't get "cats" in Kruger, only "CATS"!! It was right in front of our verandah and was looking at us very calmly...it was still early and there were plenty of people out and about. The Brat, meanwhile grabbed his camera and tried to take a pic, but it wouldn't focus. I ran inside and grabbed my camera. The AWC was still there just staring at us. I tried to take a pic and then realised that I had taken my memory card out to download pics!! By the time the Brat and I were sorted he had wandered off next door and then disappeared into the night!!

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30 September Satara

We were at the gate with the rest of the early risers eager to get out. We decided to head down the H1-3 to Tshokwane and then back via Talamati and the H7.
At Kumana, a big herd of buffs was coming down to drink.





As they were finishing, another herd arrived.



A grey heron coming in to land.



We thought this was a Black Kite at first, but now know it’s a Wahlberg’s eagle which we haven’t seen in years.



While watching it, another bird was making a huge racket and we eventually tracked it down...a Southern Boubou I think?



At Mazithi, lots of zebbies were eager to get to the water.





We popped into Tshokwane, then got onto the S34 up to Lugmag Dam. Another first for me, a Blackcrowned Tchagra!



We found this raptor which we weren’t too sure about...a young Martial Eagle?





At some stage in the morning we had another lovely sighting of 5 rhino together.

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30 September Satara cont.

At Lugmag Dam, these impala were showing off.



Our first ostrich of the trip.



“You talkin’ to me?”



The S36, S145, S140 and H7 were very quiet with no sightings worth a mention!!

We got back to camp and the Brat and I went for a swim, while my dad cleaned the car!

This fellow was in one of the trees next to our rondavel. Looks like he has a tick on his eye.



We also found the Satara Scops Owl. Poor thing...it looked like a celebrity was in town with the amount of photographers around him.



The birds kept us entertained again. Who knows what’s going on here??





“Go on without me!” (Such drama queens!) -O

[JustN@ture]

Great catching up on the TT FB , the photo's are stunning and great sightings ,
Love the hyena sequence and this martial eagle is stunning

...if looks could kill
Good to see the rhinos and as mentioned an interesting encounter between the 2 feathered friends

[Flutterby]

30 September Satara cont.

If I wait for the Brat, I could still be sitting here at Christmas!

For our afternoon drive we headed up the H1-4 then came back down the S39 Timbavati road. The H1-4 produced a few Kori Bustards, a jackal, some ellies and another 5 rhino!!





But the best sighting on the H1-4 were these 2 reedbuck which were very well spotted by the Brat as they were a fair distance away.



The S39 was totally dead...we saw NOTHING!!

So it was back to camp after another “catless” day! We braaied sosaties that night which were in a fruity, Cape Malay marinade. We put them in a frying pan after taking them off the braai, and after dinner I washed all the dishes and put some water in the pan to soak for a bit but then forgot to wash it! We duly went to bed and woke up a bit later to an almighty crash!! We always leave the curtains open in Kruger so we saw straight away who the culprit was....a honey badger had knocked the frying pan onto the floor and was licking up the bit of marinade left in it! The Brat and I both grabbed cameras and started clicking away while my dad held the torch. The badger wasn’t at all worried about us, and licked the pan clean! He then turned around and disappeared, but the Brat was not satisfied with that encounter and insisted that we follow it!! So, in PJ’s and barefoot, the Brat and I followed the badger as he went from verandah to verandah looking for something else to eat. He soon left our circle and I told the Brat in no uncertain terms that it was now time for bed!! An exciting end to an otherwise relatively quiet day.