We have been wanting to visit South Africa for a while, especially after we got hooked on safari following our wonderful trip in Masai Mara Reserve in Kenya in 2016. After a year-long planning we were on our way to South Africa. This time instead of a guided private tour we were going to self-drive in Kruger National Park (mentioned as KNP from now on) as well as stay at much more modest park accommodations. The booking window for KNP opens about 11 months out and I was able to call in and secure 2 rooms at each of our rest camps. We were staying 3 nights each in Skukuza Rest Camp and Satara Rest Camp and 2 nights in Lower Sabie Rest Camp.
After landing in Johannesburg, we picked up our rental car and drove for about 5 hours to Kruger National Park. We stopped in Nelspruit on the way for lunch and stocked up on some groceries for my parents. Although we were going to eat out at each of the rest camps, my parents were going to cook for themselves during most of our safari trip so we stocked up on groceries here.
We arrived at Paul Kruger Gate in late afternoon and after a quick verification of our papers, we drove inside the park for a short 15 minutes to reach Skukuza Rest Camp where we were going to stay for the next 3 nights.
Our room in Skukuza Rest camp was pretty basic but that was more than ok. We were going to spend most of the day out and about and the room was only meant for sleeping anyways. As mentioned before, the room came equipped with a refrigerator, hot plate, cooking utensils and my parents made use of these amenities quite a lot during this trip.
Day 1:
During September, the camp gates are open from 6 AM to 6 PM. We woke up early and were among the first few cars out the gate.
Kruger National Park has both paved roads as well as unpaved roads. On first thought one might think that chances of game viewing are better in unpaved roads but actually based on our experience it was quite the opposite. Yes, the unpaved roads give a more adventurous experience as there are less vehicles but on the same token you are more likely to come across more game by paved roads because there are more eyes looking for game on these roads. In fact by the third day we would stick mostly to paved roads and stop whenever we would see multiple cars by the side of the road and you know there is something of interest nearby.
After returning back to Skukuza Camp at noon we had lunch at the Cattle Baron restaurant. Next we went out on afternoon game drive near the camp.
We saw a lone male lion walking on the road but there were 4 cars ahead of us. Unlike Masai Mara Reserve in Kenya where most vehicles have professional drivers, there is less overall courtesy shown in Kruger. If you are behind a few vehicles, you might not get to see the game at all because some people will hog the entire area without giving an inch.
Day 2:
In the early morning we drove on the Skukuza – Lower Sabie road which supposedly has one of the highest concentration of Leopards in the wild. Sure enough we came across a leopard high in the trees hidden behind thick vegetation.
Hopelessly waiting to see the leopard come down and give us a better view we finally took off and saw another leopard on the ground by a tree. This time it was too far away to take a good picture (but we saw it using our binoculars). After reaching Lower Sabie Camp, we turned back around towards Skukuza.
We came across a few cars on the road that had spotted a male lion. Luckily one of the vehicles drove off and we took its spot. Not 5 minutes had gone by when we had by far one of the closest views of a male lion (less than 20 ft from our car)
The male lion ended up giving a 10 minute show and finally we took off. A few minutes later we came across this leopard sitting on a tree.
After lunch we went out on afternoon drive on the Skukuza – Satara road and spotted the usual – lots of elephants, giraffes, zebras and Impalas. On the way back we saw some more Chacma Baboons.
Day 3:
Today was our last day in Skukuza Rest camp and were heading out just before noon. We went on the Skukuza – Lower Sabie road again and this turned out to be a “Hyena day”. Overall we had 5 different sightings of hyenas in just 4 hours.
We left Skukuza and headed for Satara around 10 AM. The drive was fairly uneventful and we did not see any big cats on the way. Lots of zebras, elephants, impalas and giraffes though.
After reaching Satara Rest Camp, we unpacked in our room, had lunch and then went out for afternoon game drive on S 100 unpaved road loop near the camp.
We saw a bunch of zebras all along the S 100 road (unpaved road).
While returning back to Satara Camp we saw an ostrich in the distance.
Day 4:
In the morning we drove around S100 unpaved road again and got to see this cute zebra playing in the dirt.
For the afternoon game drive we drove towards Orpen Gate and saw a female lion in the distance enjoying afternoon sunshine.
Soon after seeing the lioness we decided to drive back to Satara – Olifants road where we had the most luck with big cats.
The closest encounter to a big cat happened late in the evening when we were getting back to Satara Camp. While rushing back to beat the 6 pm gate closing deadline we came across a number of cars stopped by the side of the road. It was a solitary female lion making its way across the fields and then went and just sat down right in the middle of the road. All the cars slowly passed by her taking their time to take as many photos and videos as they could. This lioness was less than 6 feet away from our car.
Day 5:
We started our day heading towards Olifants Camp on Satara – Olifants road. Right out the gate from Satara camp we came across 2 jackals crossing the road (another jackal joined them soon after). We found out that there was a jackal den right by the side of the road with 3 baby jackals.
Going a few more miles ahead we saw a pair of lions by the side of the road. The female was in heat and proceeded to give us a full National Geographic style show.
On our way to Olifants camp, we came across an Ostrich and soon after a pair of Honey Badgers crossing the road. This is the only time I have ever seen a honey badger in person.
After reaching Olifants camp, we stayed there for about half an hour and then started to head back. We reached a water hole where there were about 7 zebras congregating.
We came across a huge line of cars and were sure it was either a lion or leopard. Turns out a leopard was sitting by a tree.
After sitting for a good 10 minutes the Leopard started to walk and then disappeared in the ravines nearby.
In the afternoon drive we came across one of the largest Elephant herds we saw crossing the road ahead of us.
While driving the Satara – Olifants road we came across a lone hyena feasting on a fresh impala kill. When we parked the car next to the Hyena, he paid us no attention and continued crunching on the bones (which we could hear over the sound of the engine).
Day 6:
We did not have much luck with big cats in our morning drive in Satara this day. Around 10 AM we started out for Lower Sabie Camp. The drive was very uneventful and with the exception of Elephants, Zebras, Giraffes and Impalas we did see very little.
On reaching Lower Sabie Camp we had lunch in the restaurant. For evening drive we went by the lake next to Lower Sabie camp where we saw a large number of hippos as well as crocodiles.
We did not see any big cat this day.
Day 7:
In the morning we hung out by the lake next to Lower Sabie camp as well as the bridge near Lower Sabie camp that continues on to Satara. We were lucky to spot a baby Hippo.
We also drove the Skukuza – Lower Sabie road in the morning. We had so much success spotting lions and leopards on this road that we were hoping to catch a good view of either of these on our last day. We were not disappointed.
Soon after seeing the leopard we came across a herd of more than 200 Cape Buffalo.
In the afternoon we saw a pair of lions resting in shade under a tree far away.
We came across a lone Giraffe walking on the road. It was so close to our car that I was having trouble catching it in my video screen in full.
Our last big sighting of the day was a pair of lions resting after a fresh kill. When we were returning back to our camp, we saw the lioness finish off most of her share and leave the rest to vultures.
We went back to the camp an hour earlier than we usually do. We left the Lower Sabie camp soon after the gates opened next morning for a long 6 hour drive back to Johannesburg.