A COUPLE of years ago when we did a Kruger trip, our arrival at Satara coincided with the arrival of what people were calling the mega-pride.
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There were lions everywhere. We almost tripped over them every time we left camp. On one drive along the famous S100, we counted more than 20 tawny cats before we reached the S41 cross road and there were plenty more lions scattered alongside the H6 on our way back to camp.
While lion sightings were exceptionally good on that particular trip, the area around Satara almost always seems to produce a least one or two quality lion encountered. This trip, however, was proving to be an exception to the rule. Although we’d had exciting lion encounters in other parts of the park we hadn’t seen a whisker in the vicinity of Satara.
However, after saying goodbye to our friends and starting our journey southward along the H1-3, our Satara big cat luck changed dramatically.
We’d gone just a few kilometres when we encountered five sleepy lions close to the road. A few kilometres further along the road, we disturbed a dozing cheetah under a tree, a stone’s throw away from our vehicle. These two sightings were the start of another phenomenal day of game viewing on our drive to our next stop, Pretoriuskop rest camp.
There were more lions waiting to entertain us at Mazithi Pan, shortly before we stopped for breakfast at attractive Tshokwane picnic sight. At first, we caught a glimpse of two females before they strolled behind a bush and disappeared.
We waited a while and they reappeared the other side of the bush and started heading for the river bed. Soon they were joined by three other females, three gangly older cubs and two gorgeous babies. We – and the occupants of just two other vehicles – had a ringside view of the cubs playing and interacting with the adults. This delightful sighting delayed our breakfast for quite a while. We were interested to note a big wildebeest herd grazing nearby, the animals all either oblivious or unconcerned about the lions.
It was smaller creatures who entertained us when we turned off the main road to admire the scenery from the Orpen Dam view point. The rain the previous evening had left puddles on the road, much to the delight of thirsty tortoises. There were small tortoises everywhere and we had to keep a close watch to ensure that we didn’t drive over any of them. The impala were also using the puddles as watering points, adding to the traffic congestion.
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As we proceeded we encountered plenty of game including elephant and we had to stop and wait for a big breeding herd to cross the road soon after we reached the scenic H1-2, along the Sand River. The more southerly section of the park seemed to have also benefited from the recent rain and we were pleased to notice how much fuller the rivers were than they’d been on our way north.
The excellent general game viewing continued when we turned southward down the H1-1. With us it is a time-honoured tradition to stop on top of the Mathekenyane Dome to enjoy the spectacular view of that part of the park and we lingered there for quite a while before continued on our way, completing the last section of the day’s route to Pretoriuskop.
Like most of the other rest camps had been on this trip, Pretoriuskop was pretty empty.
We set up camp in a pretty corner of this, one of our favourite Kruger rest camps and enjoyed a late lunch break before setting out to explore the area. Pretoriuskop boasts a good selection of camp residents including a fine flock of guinea fowl, a band of friendly dwarf mongoose and some striking members of the lizard family. With its lovely old trees it is also a premier birding hotspot. The camp followers, winged and four-footed, provided us with five star, in-camp entertainment while we ate our lunch.
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