SOUTH AFRICA PART 3: Kruger's Olifants & Orphen camps plus Taita Falcon

African Elephant bull

Following our stay at Satara (see here) we headed north to Olifants Camp, known for beautiful views atop cliffs across the Olifants River towards the Mozambique border. 

Olifants River

On the way and around Olifants we found many more elephants, including some fine bulls and large family groups.

Cow elephant with calf

Elephant & Impala

It's impossible to tire of seeing Giraffe, and they were quite numerous throughout Kruger.

Giraffe

Giraffe

Greater Kudu, Burchell's Zebra, Impala

Plenty of waterbirds were about the river including African Openbill, and Saddle-billed Storks mixing it with Impala. Kori Bustard was quite common in more open areas.

Saddle-billed Stork & Impala

African Openbill

Kori Bustard

This trip was primarily for mammal-spotting so birds were not a high priority. But we were happy enough to see nice birds including Lilac-breasted Roller, Arrow-marked Babbler, Grey-headed Bush-shrike, Southern White-crowned Shrike and Magpie Shrike.

Arrow-marked Babbler

Lilac-breasted Roller

Grey-headed Bush-shrike

Southern White-crowned Shrike

Magpie Shrike

Crested Francolin, Red-necked Spurfowl and Natal Spurfowl were common.

Crested Francolin

Natal Spurfowl

Raptors included White-backed, White-headed and Lappet-faced vultures, Bateleur, Martial Eagle and Black-breasted and Brown snake-eagles.

Bateleur

Black-chested Snake-Eagle

Martial Eagle

White-backed Vulture

White-headed Vulture

We saw Slender Mongoose and Dwarf Mongoose roadside a few times, along with South African Ground-Squirrel.

Dwarf Mongoose

Slender Mongoose

South African Ground-Squirrel

Small ruminants included plenty of Steenbock.

Steenbok

 At Olifants I joined a morning walking expedition along the river with two armed park rangers. I'd been told this is a good plan for seeing Pel's Fishing-Owl, another bogey I'd dipped on several times during past visits. The rangers tracked down a fishing-owl and it was a great pleasure to watch it perched high in the foliage and as it flew to another tree. The rangers then found the shed skin of a large black mamba.

Rangers with black mamba skin.

Pel's Fishing-Owl

Pel's Fishing-Owl

We were walking along the river bank when a large male leopard appeared just 30 metres away. We were upwind and it was looking the other way so didn't notice us. It soon heard us though and melted into the scrub. Nearby were the remains of an Impala it had killed and dragged up a tree.

Leopard

Leopard's Impala kill

We headed south from Olifants towards our last lodge in Kruger – an overnight stay in Orphen. We hadn't gone far when we ran into a female leopard with a cub by the road. Leopard can be easy to miss in Kruger but we saw a total of six in five encounters; Glenn and I saw just one during our last visit. However we failed to see Cheetah, which we saw last time though it is scarce in the park.

Leopard with cub (rear)

Further south we stopped at a waterhole that was productive on the way up. Large numbers of zebra and wilderbeeste were drinking and on both occasions, they were watched carefully by lions. On our return visit, a sub-adult male lion that had been watching from long grass rushed at what seemed to be lightning speed towards some zebras by the water. They were able to avoid the lion and escape amid a cloud of dust.

Burchell's Zebra & Wilderbeeste

We saw lions again as we continued eastwards. We were to see a total of 28 lions during eight encounters. 

Lion

We stopped at a picnic spot for lunch – one of the few places in the park where you are allowed to leave the vehicle, which can be frustrating. Large numbers of small birds were coming in to drink at birdbaths provided, including Blue Waxbill and Red-billed Firefinch. Earlier we had seen large numbers of Red-billed Quelea, supposedly the world's commonest bird.

Red-billed Firefinch & Blue Waxbill

Red-billed Quelea

As stopped again at the waterhole near Satara that was so productive earlier in the trip. A very large herd of Cape Buffalo were wallowing in what was left of the mud.

Cape Buffalo

We were delighted to find at Orphen that our lodge was right by the fence and overlooking a watering hole. We spent our last afternoon in the park not on a game drive but relaxing as we watched the spectacle. A group of elephants came in to drink.

Elephants at the waterhole

Then three rhino came to drink, hanging about outside the compound at close quarters for about an hour. Earlier in the day we saw another pair of rhino near the road. So we saw a total of 13 White Rhinoceros in five encounters, far more than we could have hoped for.

Rhino at the waterhole

Towards sunset a large group of Cape Buffalo came to the water and camped for the night in the surrounding scrub. Spotted Hyaenas were also about, prowling the fence line for food scraps and calling during the night.

Buffalo at the waterhole

The next morning we left the park, heading west towards Johannesburg. We stopped at Abel Erasmus Pass, a beautiful spot in the Drakensburg Range known for its nesting pair of Taita Falcon. The falcons nest above a line of curio shops and we were told to summon a local lad, Michael. 

Taita Falcon site

We found the bird perched high and distantly above the road before Michael turned up. He had a scope, however, which we didn't, so it was nice to get a better view.

Taita Falcon

SOUTH AFRICA PART Part 2: Lower Sabie and Satara in Kruger National Park

White lion near Satara

Following our stay at Pretoriuskop Camp in Kruger National Park (see here) we moved on the Lower Sabie Lodge for a 2-night stay. We left early in the morning, seeing a troop of Chacma Baboons as we headed east.

Chacma Baboon

In the morning mist we spotted a Roan Antelope, a rare animal in the park. Then at a watering hole a fine Sable Antelope came in to drink.

Sable Antelope

We saw plenty of Wilderbeeste, Buchell's Zebra and Impala as we slowly drove along.

Wilderbeeste

Burchell's Zebra

We were pleased to find two White Rhinoceros – a female with a large calf – in the scrub. Glenn and I inexplicably failed to see this species during our last visit to Kruger in 1996 (although we saw it at Mkuzi) when it was supposedly quite common in the park. In recent years the population has been severely diminished with the poaching of hundreds of rhino. So sightings are these days much more uncommon than in the relatively recent past.

White Rhinoceros

Soon after we saw our first African elephants of the trip; we were to see many more in the days ahead.

African Elephant

We found a party of Spotted Hyaena sunning themselves on the road.

Spotted Hyaena

Spotted Hyaena

We called in at the park headquarters in Skukuza before moving on to Lower Sabie in the south-eastern portion of the park. Stierling's Wren-Warbler was something of a bogey bird for me as I had missed it in the past. So we tried playback in several places and eventually one showed nicely at Mhlupheka waterhole.

Stierling's Wren-Warbler

A pair of Southern Ground-Hornbills strutted their stuff by the road.

Southern Ground-Hornbill

We had game drives every morning and late afternoon at each of the lodges we stayed at. Lower Sabie had a nice mix of habitat with rivers, open woodland and thornbush scrub. We saw a large leopard resting under an acacia on the banks of the Sabie River.

Leopard

Our first lions were brief views of a male and female, then a fine male early in the morning as it lay stretched out on the ground.

Lion

We found another two White Rhinoceros in scrub south of Lower Sabie Camp.

White Rhinoceros

A pool near the lodge entrance had large numbers of Nile Crocodile and Hippopotomus.

Hippopotamus

Nile Crocodile & Impala

Nile Crocodile

Lower Sabie waterhole

Hippopotamus were also seen emerging from the river nearby to feed during the late afternoon.

Hippopotamus

Among the birds around the dam were Three-banded Plover and African Spoonbill.

African Spoonbill

Three-banded Plover

We then transferred to Satara Camp for a 2-night stay. Satara is one of the finest lodges for game-viewing as there are extensive areas of short-grassed plains. 

Plains between Lower Sabie & Satara

Sunset at Satara

On the way to Satara we found another leopard, this one partially concealed as in rested in the branches of a thick acacia.

Leopard

More game drives. We found three lionesses feeding on an Impala it had just killed.

Lions on Impala kill

Black-backed Jackal was added to the ever growing list of mammals.

Black-backed Jackal

A waterhole a few kilometres west of the lodge was popular. Lions were here as well, with a large male marking its territory.

Lion

Mammals of various species such as Giraffe, Chacma Baboon and Impala, freely mixed as they came in to drink. Conditions in the park during our visit were harsh and hot, with no water away from the main rivers and a few watering holes. This was in stark contrast to our visit 22 years ago, when all was green and lush following good seasonal rains. However, because of the sparse vegetation, we saw more game during this visit.

Chacma Baboon & Impala

Giraffe & Impala

On a drive east of Satara we came across a pride of 17 lions, including a fine white male (see top image). They nonchalantly strolled past the vehicle without giving us a side glance. The pride was clearly on the hunt, with the lionesses in the lead.

Lion pride

Lioness

Sub-adult male Lion

Nyala was among the mammals we saw during our game drives.

Nyala

We saw our first Common Ostrich in on the plains, while Flappet Lark and Croaking Cisticola were numerous.

Common Ostrich

Flappet Lark

Croaking Cisticola

One evening at Satara Lodge we tracked down an African Scops-Owl. On the second evening we saw an African Wild Cat with a kitten, as well as a Lesser Galago.

African Scops-Owl

African Wild Cat