Having run out of ideas for birthday gifts for Johan, I decided to give him a trip to the bush. I spent hours on google, searching for private lodges that offer the bush-feel that I knew he would want (including at least some of the big 5) and yet fall inside the realms of affordability. There were none. So I went back to our national parks, and gave Johan a choice – Pilanesberg, Marakele, Mapongupwe, or Kruger. He picked Kruger, and specifically – Satara. In an attept to make the trip extra-special (it was his birthday gift, after all) we decided to start by spending the first night in the sleep-over hide at Sable Dam.
What an experience! Any trip that starts with a sunset as spectacular as the one from Sable Dam hide, can only be good!
I will start with the lists of species that we spotted:
Birds
2. Crested Francolin
3. Red-necked Spurfowl
4. Swainson’s Spurfowl
5. Helmeted Guineafowl
6. Egyptian Goose
7. Golden-tailed Woodpecker**
8. Southern Red-billed Hornbill
9. Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill
10. African Grey Hornbill
11. Southern Ground-Hornbill
12. African Hoopoe
13. Green Wood-hoopoe
14. Lilac-breasted Roller
15. Purple Roller
16. Giant Kingfisher
17. Pied Kingfisher
18. Burchell’s Coucal
19. Grey Go-away-bird
20. Cape Turtle Dove
21. Emerald-spotted Wood Dove
22. Kori Bustard
23. Northern Black Korhaan
24. Black Crake
25. Double-banded Sandgrouse
26. African Jacana
27. Water Thick-knee
28. Black-winged Stilt**
29. Three-banded Plover
30. Blacksmith Lapwing
31. White-crowned Lapwing
32. Senegal Lapwing*
33. Crowned Lapwing
34. African Fish Eagle
35. Hooded Vulture
36. White-backed Vulture
37. Lappet-faced Vulture
38. Bateleur
39. Tawny Eagle
40. Martial Eagle
41. Secretarybird
42. Reed Cormorant
43. Grey Heron
44. Goliath Heron
45. Great Egret
46. Western Cattle Egret
47. Hamerkop
48. African Spoonbill
49. Yellow-billed Stork
50. African Openbill
51. Woolly-necked Stork
52. Saddle-billed Stork
53. Magpie Shrike
54. Southern White-crowned Shrike*
55. Fork-tailed Drongo
56. Brubru*
57. Black-backed Puffback
58. Black-crowned Tchagra
59. Orange-breasted Bushshrike
60. Grey-headed Bushshrike*
61. White-crested Helmet-Shrike
62. Chinspot Batis
63. African Stonechat**
64. Mocking Cliff Chat*
65. Cape Glossy Starling
66. Greater Blue-eared Starling
67. Burchell’s Starling
68. Red-billed Oxpecker
69. Rufous-winged Cisticola
70. Long-billed Crombec
71. Arrow-marked Babbler
72. Sabota Lark
73. Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Lark
74. Red-billed Buffalo Weaver
75. Blue Waxbill
Mammals
2. Bushbuck
3. Kudu
4. Waterbuck
5. Steenbok
6. Grey Duiker
7. Blue Wildebeest
8. African Buffalo
9. Plains Zebra
10. Common Warthog
11. Giraffe
12. African Elephant
13. White Rhinoceros
14. Hippopotamus<
15. Lion
16. Leopard
17. African Wild Cat
18. Spotted Hyaena
19. African Wild Dog
20. Black-backed Jackal
21. Slender Mongoose
22. Dwarf Mongoose
23. Tree Squirrel
24. Vervet Monkey
25. Baboon
* New species
** New species for Kruger National Park
More posts with photos to come…