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The first 24 hours in Kruger National Park were incredible, and our stay at Skukuza Camp was one of my favorites of the trip, but we only spent one night there before we headed north to our next destination – Satara Rest Camp.
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Driving from Skukuza to Satara
Remember I mentioned that we saw the Big Five within our first 24 hours in Kruger National Park, and 4 of those were on the first afternoon? Well, shortly after checking out of Skukuza camp and heading to our next camp, all of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted movement, and BOOM – a female African Leopard was walking out of the brush parallel to the car!
Once again, I screamed LEOPARD and almost punched out the window, pointing as she wove back and forth from the brush and then towards the road where she crossed directly in front of our vehicle. My second proudest moment was when I spotted the first leopard on the trip.
We were pumped and had so much adrenaline that our drive, which was technically a 2-hour drive, turned into a 6-hour drive, taking our time and hitting as many different roads as possible because you never know what’s around each bend.
She was our only leopard of the day, but it set the tone for the upcoming days – Satara is known as the “Cat Camp” because it’s the best camp for viewing lions, leopards, and cheetahs.
We drove all day and arrived at Satara just as the sun was setting after a full day of seeing elephants, impala, giraffe, warthogs, one leopard, zebra, dwarf mongoose, kudu, a klipspringer, a secretary bird, barred owls, wildebeest, ostrich, vervet monkeys, and the magnificent baobab tree, also known as the tree of life.
Checking in to Satara Rest Camp
Our group checked into 3 of the Satara Rest Camp Bungalows. These bungalows were on the perimeter fence and had a view over the African bush. Each cabin had an en-suite bathroom with shower and was fully air-conditioned, plus a fully equipped outdoor kitchen fitted with a cooker top, combination fridge/freezer in a monkey-proof cage, cutlery, crockery, and utensils and access to an outside braai (barbeque) facility.
Satara camp also had a full restaurant, a quick service perfect for coffee and breakfast on the go, and a large grocery store and souvenir shop.
We had dinner at the restaurant, did a little shopping before the stores closed, and got to bed at a decent time because we would start the next day with a 4:30 AM wake-up call for our first Satara morning drive… and it’s one I will never forget. Here come the happy tears…
Side note about the vervet monkey with the cashews – someone not in our party was unloading their car into their bungalow and kept leaving their door open, and I witnessed one sneak into the vehicle and grab food – then they proceeded to bring the snacks to our porch area and destroyed everything LOL. (Think poop everywhere) You can’t trust them for even one second, and they can be super aggressive, so unfortunately, if they get something – it’s officially theirs. Never feed the wildlife on purpose!
Morning Safari in Satara
Our first early morning safari was cold and a little underwhelming for the first hour or so, except for seeing a beautiful barn owl by the spotlight before sunrise.
We were getting close to the time when we needed to turn around and head back without having seen much besides some of the plentiful herd animals… then, suddenly, our driver slowed down and stopped.
Off in the distance, hidden amongst the tall grass, I could see little faces and ears poking out of the bush – LIONS, well over a dozen of them. Moms and babies were all resting from their nightly hunt, many still covered in blood from the meal.
It was surreal to see so many of them together for the first time, and we were lucky to sit for a while and observe them and listen to them communicate with all their grumbles, head bonks, and calls off in the distance between groups.
Moms cleaned the babies, and babies wrestled and snoozed, but everyone was always on alert and with good reason. Also hidden in the brush was a spotted hyena waiting for scraps or someone to let their guard down, which never happened because one of the females eventually let him know he wasn’t welcome.
I just cried, and honestly, looking at these images as I write this now, I am crying again – This is one of those moments and memories that changes you forever. This experience would be hard to top, but we would certainly try!
We headed back to camp with a lovely baby elephant and baby zebra sighting along the way, grabbed breakfast, and hit the road again for another full day of driving around with the adrenaline of the morning safari, and it did not disappoint.
Self guided Safari in Satara
Our first sighting on our own was the southern ground hornbill, which is classed as vulnerable to extinction globally; luckily, we had several sightings throughout our trip, so here’s hoping they continue to thrive.
Within minutes, we spotted a lone lioness far out in the brush, and within seconds, she laid down and practically disappeared before our eyes. It makes you wonder how many animals are right in front of you whether you see them or not – amazing and scary!
As we continued to explore the area around Satara, we saw our first tree squirrel, the largest group of impala so far, warthogs at a waterhole, the cutest fluffy zebra baby, a male and female ostrich, our first sighting of hippos, a fish eagle, and helmeted guinea fowl.
It was an eventful day but ended with a race against the sunset to return to camp and one of the most incredible sights and experiences with one of my new favorite animals – Hyenas!
I won’t ever forget this moment. It was almost dusk, and a lone hyena emerged from the tall grass. He made eye contact with us and walked directly in front of us to meet up with two others we didn’t even see on the other side.
All three of them made eye contact and walked directly towards us. We quickly put the car in reverse because Hyenas are known to bite and attack tires; the last thing you need at sunset is a flat tire!
They crossed off into the tall grass beside us, so we took the opportunity to turn around and head back to camp. As we started driving, we had company again- the Hyena was running down the road beside us, which was magic!
Safari iPhone Photos
Here are some fun iPhone photos of this leg of the trip to give perspective on how close we were to specific sightings and that I only sometimes needed a big fancy camera to make lasting memories. Also, the only respectable way to get a selfie with wildlife is NEVER to pay to play, touch, hold, or get your photo taken with wild animals.
Exploring Around Satara
The next day was spent again in the Satara area, exploring on our own for most of the day. We got an early start at the local watering hole in hopes of seeing some predators starting their day with a drink, but instead, we watched some playful hippos for a while.
A very cool sighting happened when we spotted a honey badger just off doing his thing and the adorable mean-mugging red-crested Korhaan plus baboons with babies just waking up for the day – so cute!
Leopard sighting number two happened in the middle of the day, which is unusual as they typically sleep, but both of our leopard sightings happened around noon. This handsome young leopard stalked a herd of impalas until too many cars noticed him. He sulked into the brush and disappeared before our eyes. Forever my leopard boy love.
We spent some time bird watching and had lovely sightings of more southern ground hornbills, magpies, and yellow-billed hornbills, plus a feisty elephant and hissing Nile crocodile before heading back to camp to get ready for our last night tour in Satara.
This night tour got very cold quickly; sadly, we didn’t see any cats. Still, we saw a beautiful pearl-spotted owl, the silliest baby giraffe trying to hide behind a bush, and the cutest fluffiest baby hyena – triple squeeeee. The evening ended with a beautiful sunset and a cookout as a group for our last night in Satara!
We checked out of Satara Rest Camp and headed to our next destination which I will save for my next post! Olifants Rest Camp here we come!!
*** All photos taken on iPhone 12 Pro Max, Canon 80D, 60D or Insta360***
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“The Circle of Life” was playing in my mind as I looked at all your wonderful photos.
Thank you for letting me go on this wonderful trip with you guys. Your descriptions bring it to life for me. Love the cat sightings. The photo of the baby giraffe hiding behind that bush was so darn cute. That looked like a great place to stay too.
Absolutely spectacular adventure and pictures! Thank you so much for sharing
I feel like I’m there with you. Good descriptive writing.
I love these blogs about your Africa trip. Your photos are absolutely amazing. Feels at times like I’m there with you.