We got to Satara a little before the gate closed and got our huts.
The first day at Satara - June 12
I woke up early, about 3:30, after a poor sleep, probably due to excessive alcohol. Another sacrifice in the name of racing. We had planned to leave shortly after the gates opened at 6. We drove around to the sand roads, looking to stay away from traffic as much as possible. It was a misty, hazy morning, and the sun was not yet above the horizon. We found a water buffalo standing in the mist near the road, looking like he wanted to cross. But he wouldn't cross with us sitting there - he just stared at us. We backed up a little, and he moved a little closer to the road, but he wouldn’t cross with us sitting there. So we backed up some more, and he crossed the road ahead of us.
While we were still sitting there, I saw a cat slowly cross the road ahead of us. At first I thought it was a lion, but Tom thought it might be a cheetah since it was alone. It crossed into the bush as we drove closer, and a hyena come across the road right in front of us. As we sat there, another hyena crossed right behind the car. We figure the hyenas were chasing the cheetah away from its kill so the rest of the hyena pack could steal it.
We saw many wildebeest, and impala. A little further up the same road we saw 2 elephants cross the road and the river and watched them for a while. We drove to another turnaround spot and saw several vultures and a crocodile. We drove back to the hippo hide from the night before, and they were still there, even though there was a work crew staining the hide.
We went back to camp and paid for nightride and had lunch. When the night ride was late, we decided to cancel so as to not miss dinner. We walked the perimeter at sundown and saw a hyena 2' away through the fence. A couple of beers, dinner, a quick call home and to bed. A night ride would have been too much for this day.
The next day we took our time and drove back to Skukuza.
The trip from Satara back to Skukuza - June 13
After a buffet breakfast, we checked out (Satara doesn’t use keys), filled up with gas, and headed toward Skukuza. We planned to take as many dirt roads as possible. About 3K from the gate we saw a large elephant on the right side of the road. I thought he was wanting to cross the road, so I backed up. He came closer to the road and we sat there. He looked at us, and started walking toward us, flapping his ears. He backed us up about a half mile. A Mercedes has stopped behind, and wouldn’t back up, so I backed around it and the elephant kept coming. Eventually he crossed into the bush and kept watching us. After a while he walked away and we went on.
Our route back to Skukuza took us west on the paved H7 road (where the elephant backed us up) about 18 kilometers to a left turn on the gravel S36. This would give us the maximum gravel road, fewest other people and maximum wildlife (we hoped). We stopped and got out at Muzandzeni where there was a little picnic area. They were pumping the water tank full with a gasoline powered pump. The same people we had seen at breakfast in Satara were there with their bush-braai going. We bought cokes here and sat a a table looking over the field. Using my fieldglasses we could see a small herd of zebra.
Further south we passed the lake at Shimangwaneni where there was a big dam, and also at Mandzweni. We weren't seeing a lot of wildlife, but we did see a small group of wild boars and another python crossing the road. We went on to Nhlanguleni, which we did not try to pronounce. Someplace on those roads we saw the neatest little critter, it might have been the flap-neck chameleon. He was halfway across the road and he froze when we approached. Watching him through my field glasses, it appeared he was crouched in the starting blocks, but frozen. To my surprise, he started vibrating, back and forth, microscopically. The movements got slowly bigger and faster, until he finally lurched forward with enough momentum to take a step, and he kept going, but very slow. Like he thought we might not notice. Pretty neat.
We did our laundry before dinner, and had a nice chat with a resident of the park and her two children. They told us about elephants breaking down the fence behind their home, and letting the lions into their yard, so that sometimes they can’t leave their house until the cats go away.
We walked around the camp, visited the museum, and walked along the river. Having drank a lot this week, we passed up the nightcap. But as soon as we retired, I heard what I thought were large animals growling. Tom came over and said it was lions mating across the river. It was so loud I thought they were inside the camp.
