The gates open at 4:30am in January. We decided that might be a little early so we agreed to leave at sunrise which was 5:25am. Everyone seemed to have a good nights sleep even though one of us was awake at 3:45am and so could easily have done an hours drive by himself before coming back to fetch the rest of the family. It did go through my mind while lying in my bed at that time.

We aimed to do our usual ‘first day at Satara’ route which is to take the the S100 out toward the Mozambique border and then when you get as far east as you can go, we briefly turn north to the Gudzai dam to do some birding and then turn back south to N’wanetzi picnic spot (for coffee) and then Sweni Bird Hide and then back to Satara using the tar road. It is usually rewarding for both game and birds. This morning the birds did not disappoint though the game was a lot more sparse and we are yet to see any predators. The grass is so long and green that I reckon a lion could be lying right next to the road and you wouldn’t see it. We did though see a lifer for all of us (including me) – African Golden Oriole – and then O & M added another – Blue-cheeked Bee-eater. Most impressive is that the bee-eater was on the same road that I saw one last year for the first time and it was a target bird for M&O for the trip.

We did stop for a toilet and coffee break at N’wanetzi. It also has a lovely viewpoint over the Sweni River. We then tried to go to the Sweni Bird Hide only to find it closed and under construction. Quite disappointing as it usually is a great hide. We headed back to camp and got back around 9:45am after just over a 4-hour drive. Little Miss I did very well and was entertained by animals, her parents and only right at the end of the drive by an iPad. The best moment of the morning drive was H getting very excited by a potential bird she had seen only to say (when looking through the binoculars) ‘Oh that is a giraffe’s ears and not a bird’.

We did a short walk around the camp when we got back and added some more birds to the trip list. We are all on slightly different totals at this point as we have at times all seen different things. We are all roughly around the 80s – I am on 87. I think H is currently the one with the most. We all came back so that I could have a nap and then H headed for a nap and then M&O went awol. Only the one who woke at 3:45am was still up at one point as I wasn’t sure when the car delivery would take place and definitely didn’t want to miss that!

We did finally get a new car at around 2:45pm. It is a much better car and the back windows open so that problem is finally resolved. Not that it was an easy task to do as the people simply seemed somewhat disinterested in customer service. My PA harassed them the whole day to get it sorted. After we exchanged cars the lady who dropped the one off called me again and said there was a chip in the windscreen. I went to go and check it and there is no way that anyone would have seen it unless you were purposefully looking for an issue. I would also say it is highly unlikely it came from us though not sure we would have known because the windscreen was dirty when we took it. Word of advice to anyone reading this blog – don’t use Europcar even if they are cheaper – not worth the money.

We headed out for our evening game drive at around 3:30pm. It is a standard loop that H and I do when we are staying at Satara. Game was again sparse except we saw a hyena though we did see all the standard game i.e. elephant, zebra, impala etc. Not sure we have kudu as yet though (or not that I can remember) which is highly unusual. We did have some good birding again though and H & I added to our lifer count. We now have H on 5, O on 4 and M & myself on 2. H crossed the 100 mark for birds on the trip (in just over 24 hours) – the rest of us are behind by around 5-7 (she did a little sneaky walk by herself and added a number of birds).

Back to the camp for our evening braai. While I was just getting the braai going, I look up and right next to the fence is a hyena. Clearly could smell the fire and came to check up on what he/she might be able to obtain. I managed to get a photo but didn’t manage to call M & O in time before it walked off. Dinner was chicken, boerewors, gem squash & potatoes done on the braai along with some broccoli & feta. Then off to bed for hopefully a good nights rest for our 5:30am morning game drive.

Until tomorrow …

P, I (she was an expert driver today), M (spotting a lifer for me), H & O