Today was a scorcher weather wise – the temperature turned at 41ºC at around 14:30 – while we were travelling to the north and east of Satara.

Black-backed Jackal

Smiling Buffalo (photo by Joubert)

Squirrel hijacking our car while we were having a picnic

Waterbuck bull (photo by Joubert)

Olifants River

Saddle-billed Stork

Fish Eagle with prey

School of Juvenile Mozambique Tilapia in the Nwanetsi Spruit

Hamerkop (photo by Joubert)

Playful zebra foal

Our day might have started with an encounter with three lions right on the road, but what we’ll remember most from today is the awesome thunderstorm that swept over the plains of Satara this evening just before sunset.

Young lions claiming the road between Satara and Nwanetsi

Very wet pair of young Black-backed Jackals (photo by Joubert)

Impala Ram (photo by Joubert)

Black Crake

Blue Wildebeest

Running Impala (photo by Joubert)

Tawny-flanked Prinia

Orange-breasted Bush Shrike

Scarlet Tip female

Jameson’s Firefinch

Foam Nest Frog

Ground Hornbill

Plains Zebra crossing (… the road) (photo by Joubert)

Fork-tailed Drongo on its (very exposed) nest

Spotted Hyena

Serenity at Welverdiend (Well Deserved) Waterhole

Thunderstorm raging over the central plains of Kruger Park, 27 December 2021

We’re still having a front row seat to the Satara Wildlife Show here in Kruger National Park!

Knob-billed Ducks

Dwarf Mongoose

Swainson’s Spurfowl

Mating Hinged Tortoises

Marsh Terrapin

Plains Zebra and Blue Wildebeest

Martial Eagle with Steenbok prey

Bathing House Sparrow (photo by Marilize)

Flock of Red-billed Queleas

Blue Wildebeest

Tawny Eagle

Baby elephant cuteness

Cheetahs like statues along the H6

Merry Christmas Everyone!

While we didn’t drive very far from Satara today we still had some beautiful and very exciting sightings on our morning and evening drives. Lunch was spent in camp enjoying a delicious Christmas meal planned and executed by Marilize.

Black-backed Jackal

Common Sandpiper

White Water Lily

Yellow-billed Kite (photo by Joubert)

Young Elephant Bulls fighting near Nwanetsi (photo by Joubert)

Hunting lions caught in the act

Hunting lions caught in the act

Flap-necked Chameleon

Dustbathing Grey-headed Sparrow

Green-backed Heron

African Jacana showing off its very long toes

Water Monitor (photo by Marilize)

Last night internet connectivity in a jam-packed Satara was just too poor to attempt blogging, so I’ll just post three photos from the 23rd of December today.

Elephant roadblock in 35-degree heat

Thunderstorm brewing over the plains of Satara, 23 December 2021

Eastern Olive Toad (photo by Joubert)

We have no complaints whatsoever about the sightings Satara and Kruger dished up for us today on Christmas Eve either!

Baboon portrait (photo by Joubert)

Elephant bull in musth (photo by Joubert)

Giant Kingfisher (photo by Joubert)

Hippopotamus returning to the Olifants River

Pied Kingfisher (photo by Joubert)

Nyala bull

African Grey Hornbill

Hamerkop

Pregnant Steenbok

Newborn Giraffe

Can you spot the Cheetah?

We wish all our friends here at de Wets Wild a blessed Christmas. Hopefully we’ll be able to share the gifts we received from the Kruger National Park with you tomorrow night.

The Kruger National Park really delivers on every scale imaginable! These are some of our shots taken today in and around Satara Rest Camp.

House Sparrow (photo by Joubert)

Spectacled Weaver

Interesting fly that appears to be mimicking a bee (photo by Joubert)

Crab Spider

Male Tree Agama in breeding colours in Satara Rest Camp

Egyptian Goose

Hippos in a hurry at Sweni Hide

Lionesses on the S41 near Nwanetsi

Cheeky Giraffe (photo by Joubert)

Green-backed Heron (photo by Joubert)

Bushbuck ewe

Not to brag, but it seems our days here at Satara in the Kruger National Park are just getting better and better and better… We did a circular route today – Satara to N’wanedzi, onwards to Tshokwane, and then back to Satara via Nhlanguleni and Muzandzeni. The encounters we had were magic.

Buffalo bull (photo by Joubert)

Cheetahs hunting near Nwanetsi

Elephant owning the road (photo by Joubert)

(photo by Joubert)

Big male lion

Wet Baboon piggy-back (photo by Joubert)

Young male kudu (photo by Joubert)

Green-winged Pytilia (photo by Joubert)

Standoff between Vervet Monkeys and Water Dikkoppe (Water Thick-knees) at Mazithi Dam

Leopardess relaxing in a Marula tree (photo by Joubert)

Western Stripe-bellied Sand Snake (photo by Joubert)

Yellow-billed Hornbill (photo by Joubert)

Satara’s famous white lion (photo by Joubert)

We’re still having a wonderful time in the Kruger National Park, and we’re going to have so many stories to tell you when we get back home!

Black-backed Jackal having a staring contest with a lion

Mighty lion

Dwarf Mongoose

Bateleur feast

Green-backed Heron

African Cuckoo

Waterbuck herd