Tag Archives: Lower Sabie Rest Camp

You don’t ALWAYS find lions behind EVERY bush, you know..?

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When we visited in September, there appeared to be a convention of Lions around Lower Sabie Rest Camp in the Kruger National Park. Whether you were following the river in an easterly or westerly direction from camp, you would have been very unlucky not to encounter at least one pride of lions within the first 4 kilometers of your drive.

Mating pair of lions on the bank of the Sabie River
Lioness on a sand bank in the Sabie River (photo by Joubert)
Lions lazing on the rocks at Lubyelubye
Lions lazing on the rocks at Lubyelubye
Lion cub at Lubyelubye (photo by Joubert)
Lion cub at Lubyelubye
Pride of lions on a sandbank near Lower Sabie
Lioness on a sand bank in the Sabie River
Two male lions, one considerable older than the other, sharing a rock that overlooks the Sabie River
Lioness on a sand bank in the Sabie River
Big male lion staking his claim to a sandbank on the Sabie River
Pride of lions on a sandbank near Lower Sabie
Pride of lions on a sandbank near Lower Sabie
Pride of lions on a sandbank near Lower Sabie
Mating pair of lions on the bank of the Sabie River

On one occasion we even saw two lions right in front of camp while we were taking an afternoon stroll on the lawns! They spooked a herd of fleet-footed impala, alerting us to their presence as well.

Male and female lion walking the river bed in front of Lower Sabie Rest Camp
Male and female lion walking the river bed in front of Lower Sabie Rest Camp

Finding Lions in Kruger is not always this easy. With the dry season now coming to an end, surface water is hard to come by, and the lions take advantage of this by ambushing herbivores coming to slake their thirst from the Sabie. We also found lions in other parts of the park while we were driving around, and in all instances they were close to or at a water source, lying in wait.

Lazy young lion on a hot day, just north of Crocodile Bridge
A pair of young lions waiting near Mac’s Pan for passing herds
A pair of young lions waiting near Mac’s Pan for passing herds
Lone male resting near Lower Sabie

Jostling Hippos

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When we visited in September, Joubert had great fun photographing these young hippos testing their strength and skills against each other in the Sunset Dam just outside Lower Sabie in the Kruger National Park.

(All these photos were taken by Joubert, and are dedicated especially to you Lois!)

Sparring hippos (photo by Joubert)
Sparring hippos (photo by Joubert)
Sparring hippos (photo by Joubert)
Sparring hippos (photo by Joubert)
Sparring hippos (photo by Joubert)
Sparring hippos (photo by Joubert)
Sparring hippos (photo by Joubert)
Sparring hippos (photo by Joubert)
Sparring hippos (photo by Joubert)
Sparring hippos (photo by Joubert)
Sparring hippos (photo by Joubert)
Sparring hippos (photo by Joubert)
Sparring hippos (photo by Joubert)
Sparring hippos (photo by Joubert)
Sparring hippos (photo by Joubert)

 

Extreme Water Park?

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Anyone willing to share the Wild Waters of the Sabie River with this Nile Crocodile?

Come on – just look how much fun she’s having!?

Nile Crocodile cruising up to a rapid in the Sabie River
Nile Crocodile cruising up to a rapid in the Sabie River
Nile Crocodile cruising up to a rapid in the Sabie River
And over she goes!
And over she goes!
And over she goes!
And over she goes!
And over she goes!
And the Wild Ride is over…

While humming a Bobby Darin song…

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In the Kruger Park‘s Lower Sabie Rest Camp, on the way to the reception office, there’s a bird bath and fountain well frequented by a wide variety of birds, including beautiful Greater Blue-eared Starlings like this one. But you’re not really supposed to get out of the bath looking worse than you did before getting in, are you!?

Greater Blue-eared Starling
Greater Blue-eared Starling
Splish-splash, I was taking a bath…
Splish-splash, I was taking a bath…
Splish-splash, I was taking a bath…
Splish-splash, I was taking a bath…
Greater Blue-eared Starling looking quite wet

Quarrels with the neighbours

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When we arrived at the Kruger Park‘s Nthandanyathi Hide (between Lower Sabie and Crocodile Bridge) early one morning in September, we found two groups of Three-banded Plovers in a heated argument about a piece of shoreline. Pretty soon they were exchanging blows, leading to one family having to beat a hasty retreat…

Three-banded Plovers in heated argument
Three-banded Plovers in heated argument
Three-banded Plovers in heated argument
Three-banded Plovers in heated argument

Dazzling

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This group of Plains Zebra, seen in September between Crocodile Bridge and Lower Sabie in the Kruger National Park, illustrates perfectly just how well those black-and-white stripes are at breaking the individual animals’ outlines, making it much more difficult for a predator to single out a target.

This group of Plains Zebra, seen in September between Crocodile Bridge and Lower Sabie in the Kruger National Park, illustrates perfectly just how well those black-and-white stripes are at breaking the individual animals’ outlines, making it much more difficult for a predator to single out a target.

The lady that stops traffic

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This lioness was using the bridge outside Lower Sabie in the Kruger National Park as her own personal catwalk, settling down to give her adoring fans some close up views of her beauty – and I was lucky to get a front-row seat!

Lioness on her way to the bridge at Lower Sabie
Lioness on her way to the bridge at Lower Sabie
Weighing up her options
The Queen of Lower Sabie
The Queen of Lower Sabie
Lioness on the bridge with her adoring fans
Lioness on the bridge at Lower Sabie

But lions aren’t always such show-offs – sometimes they like to keep their distance, and other times they lie hidden in plain sight…

Lions in the grass next to the Crocodile River
Well-hidden Lion

 

Love Bites

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Well, apparently, if your a Striped Skink love should bite if you’re doing it right! This couple was having their honeymoon right outside my vehicle in the parking area at Lower Sabie Rest Camp in the Kruger National Park, but then headed for the privacy of a crevice in the concrete when the scene was threatening to turn too steamy…

Striped Skink courtship
Striped Skink courtship
Striped Skink courtship
Striped Skinks courtship

 

Our 2017 in pictures

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Looking back at the places we stayed at during another year of enjoying South Africa’s beautiful wild places.

Skukuza Bungalow #210, Kruger National Park, March 2017
Mantuma Tent #22, uMkhuze Game Reserve, iSimangaliso Wetland Park, March 2017
Giant’s Castle Chalet #4, uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park, April 2017
Camping at Satara, Kruger National Park, April 2017
Manzini Chalets #9, St. Lucia Town, July 2017
Cape Vidal Chalet 9, iSimangaliso Wetland Park, July 2017
Mpila #17, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, July 2017
Hilltop #42, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, July 2017
Lower Sabie hut 49, Kruger National Park, August 2017
Napi Wilderness Trail Base Camp Tent, August 2017
Camping at Nylsvley Nature reserve, September 2017
Thutong Environmental Education Centre, Marakele National Park, September 2017
Camping in Karoo National Park, December 2017
Eland Cottage, Table Mountain NP, December 2017
Chalet 11 at Agulhas National Park, December 2017
Campsite 8, Lang Elsie’s Kraal Rest Camp, Bontebok National Park, December 2017
Camping at Ebb-and-Flow Rest Camp in the Garden Route National Park, December 2017
Camping site 50i at Storms River Mouth Camp in Garden Route National Park, December 2017
Camping at Addo Elephant National Park, December 2017
Camping at Mountain Zebra National Park, December 2017
Camping at Camdeboo National Park, December 2017

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The night before we ventured into the Wilderness…

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Earlier this month I was joined by my mother, sister and brother in the Kruger National Park, chiefly to participate in the Napi Wilderness Trail, one of several guided multi-day walking trails available in the Park.

However, with the trail only starting on Sunday afternoon, we weren’t going to let the weekend go to waste and got underway from Gauteng to Kruger in the wee hours of Saturday morning. Arriving at Kruger’s Malelane Gate around 07:30 allowed us time to enjoy a quick picnic breakfast and coffee before following a meandering route along the quieter gravel roads as we made our slow way to Lower Sabie, making frequent stops to appreciate the wildlife and scenery for which the Kruger Park is world renowned.

Malelane Gate, morning of 5 August 2017
Dwarf Mongoose den
Giraffe
Common Duiker
Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill
White Rhino Calf suckling
White Rhino Cow and Calf
White Rhino calf
Young elephant
Immature Saddle-billed Storks
Shy Nyala bull
African Grey Hornbill
Burchell’s Coucal

Our accommodation for the night was a basic but comfortable 4-bed hut located close to a communal kitchen and bathroom at Lower Sabie‘s eastern fenceline. These huts are surrounded by enormous trees and indigenous shrubbery frequented by a myriad of birds and small reptiles that are quite used to having humans poking lenses in their faces…

Lower Sabie hut 49, Kruger National Park, August 2017
Greater Blue-eared Starling
Chinspot Batis (female)
Spectacled Weaver
White-bellied Sunbird
Yellow-fronted Canary
Dark-capped Bulbul
Juvenile Bateleur flying overhead
Tree Agama

Our game drive for the afternoon took us first to Sunset Dam just outside the camp’s gates, then a quick detour across the causeway over the Sabie River, and then along the S28, S137 and H4-2 roads to the south of Lower Sabie, returning to camp just before the gates closed.

Yellow-billed Storks
Hippopotamus
Hippo jawbone in the Sabie
Hippopotamus
Lion laying claim to his stretch of the Sabie River
The view from Nthandanyathi Hide
Striped Skink
Waterbuck cow
Blue wildebeest
Kudu herd
Warthog drinking from a shrinking stream
African Fish Eagle

Walking around camp in the dark after dinner, looking for nocturnal wildlife with a flashlight, is a firmly entrenched tradition for the de Wets. Both inside and outside Lower Sabie, there’s always plenty to see, and we’re almost unwilling to go to bed for fear of missing out on something interesting!

Bushbuck ewe
Lesser Bushbaby

Being one of the first vehicles to leave Lower Sabie when the gates opened at 06:00 on Sunday morning, we opted to take the main road to Skukuza before this hugely popular route gets too busy with traffic. A quick detour along the short Nwatimhiri causeway-loop rewarded us handsomly with a sighting of three young lions trying to hide, with limited success, in the thick riverine vegetation. Along the way we also popped into Nkuhlu Picnic Spot, Skukuza’s airport, the Skukuza Golf Club and Lake Panic birdhide, before heading for historic Pretoriuskop, all the time enjoying some more of the Kruger Park’s sights, sounds and smells.

Young lion failing in his quest to keep hidden from the de Wets!
Helmeted Guineafowl
Greater Blue-eared Starling
Cape Turtle Dove
Hamerkop
Young Chacma Baboon
Epauletted Fruit Bat
Nyala bull
Nile crocodile
Water Thick-knee
Skukuza Golf Club
Nyala ewe
Big old elephant bull
Kudu bull
Waterbuck bull at Transport Dam
Egyptian Goose and goslings
Waterbuck calves
Brown Snake Eagle
Slender mongoose
Waterbuck herd at Shitlhave Dam

After arriving at Pretoriuskop there’s more than enough time to pop into reception to complete all the necessary formalities for the Napi Trail and then take a gentle stroll through the camp appreciating the astounding variety of birdlife that occurs there.

Scarlet-chested Sunbird (male)
Black-collared Barbet
Southern Black Flycatcher
Kurrichane Thrush
Black-headed Oriole
African Hoopoe

Right on time (at 15:00) we were met at the designated spot by our two guides and group of four fellow trailists for the main event; the Napi Wilderness Trail (more about that wonderful experience in our next post, so stay tuned!).