Lower Sabie Rest Camp
Kruger National Park
South Africa
Kruger National Park
South Africa
Today was the day we were changing camps after twelve nights at Satara. But the move was also a game drive, so we left at our usual 5:30 a.m. and headed south toward the Lower Sabie Camp.
Our first big sighting of the day was a pride of twenty lions. The biggest pride we had seen to that point had been nine.
With the recent rains, it's nice to see more green mixed in with the browns, yellows, and golds. We watched the pride dynamics and behavior for quite some time before we continued south.
Next we came to a familiar water hole. This time there was a large herd of buffalo.
Next, we once again made a stop at the Tshokwane Picnic Site. It would be our last time having their "bush breakfast".
I've gotten several good photos of birds and wildlife at Tshokwane, and today was this picture of a Slender Mongoose.
Just like we did a few days ago on this route, we took a short side trip to the Orpen Dam. In that little distance between Tshokwane and the Orpen Dam, we saw a couple of herds of elephants, rhinos, warthogs, and more.
It's hard to resist taking photos of the baby elephants.
Next were the rhinos.
We then saw Warthogs. The female in front was clearly nursing, so we looked for some small piglets but didn't see any.
At Orpen Dam, we saw this Swainson's Spurfowl (below left) along with a Rainbow Skink (below center) and Giant Scaled Lizards (below right).
In the pond below the overlook was a huge herd of hippos.
We took our time the rest of the way to Lower Sabie and stopped to watch the various antelope and a couple more distant lions.
At the bridge below the camp where we crossed the river, we saw this Goliath Heron with a huge fish.
After it devoured the fish, it strutted and displayed in from of a fish eagle.
There were three fish eagles and a Hamerkop by the river.
This fish eagle started calling. They throw their head back almost touching their back when they call.
We reached the Lower Sabie Camp and had lunch on their veranda overlooking the Sabie River while waiting for check-in time.
Our friends had bungalows together near the river, but since we reserved three months after they did, we had different accommodations several bungalows away.
Our friends' bungalows (above) were much nicer than ours, but didn't care where we slept. We were just happy to be a part of this trip. The room was certainly adequate, although it was a bit dated.
They also have safari tents as well as a campground.
While walking the grounds, getting my bearings as I tend to do, I got some nice bird photos. Below we have the colorful Diederik Cuckoo (left), the White-Browed Robin-chat (center) and the African Green Pigeon (right).
Once we all got settled, we did a very short late afternoon drive with the most exciting sighting being this Warthog with small piglets.
We've certainly seen our share of baby animals which once again confirmed that we are here at a good time of year.
Back at camp, we had our usual Happy Hour at the bungalows and then walked over to the restaurant for dinner. Jackie said "You must be ready to get back home", to which I gave her a resounding "NO!". We could stay here and do game drives for the foreseeable future. In fact, we'd love to bring others back to show them how incredible the wildlife is here compared to the U.S. We like it here at Lower Sabie and wish we could stay longer. But tomorrow will be our only full day in the area, and we have to leave the next day. It's been another fine day here at Kruger National Park.
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