On Tuesday we changed camps from Lower Sabie to Olifants. It is a 140 km drive, and while that doesn’t seem very far when you can drive 60, 80 or 100 km/h, it is about a 5 to 6 hour drive when you’re driving at 30-40 km/h. We headed out at 6:30am driving north.

We saw a reasonable amount of the standard game but nothing special. We stopped for breakfast at Tsokwane (a picnic spot) and then continued north. By that point it was already getting into the 30 degrees C (at about 8:30am). The animals were already sitting under trees in the shade. That makes it hard to see animals and generally means predators are doing the same thing and are not out hunting.

We stopped for another short break at Satara camp and a few stops at waterholes for some birding. We did stop at a lookout point and from that viewpoint we could see rhino (7 actually), giraffe, kudu, waterbuck and even a secretary bird. After that short break, we drove through to Olifants and arrived at about 1:30pm. Fortunately they allowed us to check in early so we could settle in. The accommodation had a view over the Olifants river. The river had the most amount of water in it than I have ever seen following the recent heavy rains.

We decided to stay in the camp and enjoy the view house over the river. You can always see some game in the river – hippo, waterbuck and a variety of birds. We (actually M) got a braai going early and enjoyed the view and the sunset while having some sundowners.

While not a great day for game viewing, it was a pleasant drive and another enjoyable day in the park.

P, H, M (because he made a great fire for the braai), S, K, O & B