We had an early walk round, with xxx woodpecker, bee eater, xxxx before walking back to the Station Restaurant for breakfast. We sat out on the deck scanning for birds, then walked back to the bungalows and packed the car. As we hadn’t looked around the camp we drove round to the other side and parked up and looked around. Brenda and I went into the shop while Alan and David walked over to the viewing area. We came out of the shop and met up, scanning the river area. There were several Agama and lizard species along the pathway and a very confiding Glossy Starling that didn’t seem to mind how close it got to us. We’d had an ice cream before we headed out and along the H11 and S42 to Lake Panic. We parked in the car park and walked along the gated, fenced walkway to the hide which over looked a largish lake with Hippopotomus floating about in the middle and several Crocodiles dotted about. There were a couple of different dragonfly species perching in the reeds and along the edge we had ….. A ..buck cautiously came down a track to drink and there were weaver nests in some of the bushes. Careful scanning revealed Thick-knees under a bush and we were shown a Water Monitor on the opposite bank. There was a Fish Eagle that flew around and then settled in a tree
We set off for quite a long drive to Satara Camp. We had intended to take a different route but found ourselves on the road back to the bridge. The Goliath Herons were still there but no sign of the Finfoot. We followed the H12 and H1-2 towards Satara, making various stops along the way. We took a short gravel loop to the Oliphants waterhole, but there was nothing there, we aslo stopped at some rocks with a plaque dedicated to people of note and the Kruger Tablets, another lot of rocks with a dedication to Paul Kruger who founded the Sabie Game reserve before it became the Kruger National Park. We had a scan around but didn't see much so carried on.
We had a break at the Tshokwane Picnic Site for a comfort break and to stretch our legs but it was closed so we didnt get a drink or any food. There was a troop of Baboons and we had **** before moving on. We stopped at the Kumanadam to watch a herd of elephants which had crossed the road and wlaked down to the lake and then spent time washing, drinking and splashing about. Brilliant.
As it was getting a bit late we pressed on to Satara Camp, stopping briefly for a Black- bellied Bustard, booking in just before the 6.30 cut off. We found our bungalows, settled in and then walked to the restaurant for some supper. We had a choice of sitting under the roof, with lights, or outside with solar lamps. We sat outside, which was nice, except the lights kept switching off. After eating we had a look round for the Scops Owl that is said to live in the trees by the restaurant. Our waiter had said that it hadn't been around for a while but we were lucky and found it sitting on a branch. It didn't seem to mind the lights so we managed to get some pictures.
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