10 January 2016

One Last Question About Kruger, Please!

Hi Everyone,

Sorry I’m starting a whole new thread for this, but I have one last, 2-part dilemma:

So, for my 5-nights in Kruger, I decided to do 2 nights at Satara, and then the 3 other nights all South of Satara.

So I’m trying to decide between 1 night in:
1. Crocodile Bridge (including night drive)
OR
2. Lowe Sabie (Including night drive)

And then 2 nights at:
1. Skukuza (including night drives)
OR
2. Pretoriuskop (including night drives)

Again – I remind you that my highest targets are SERVAL and WILD DOGS, with hopes for honey badger, sable, side-striped J, caracal, klipspringer, civet, pangolin, and other cool, “smaller and rarer” things. I know it’s mostly a gamble, but any feedback is welcome!

Thanks!!! 🙂

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12 Comments

  • 10 January 2016
    Paraire Philippe

    Hello. For wild Dods Crocodile Bridge is better than lower Sabie.
    Too many people in Skukuza. I never bean in Pretoriuskop.

  • 10 January 2016
    Astrid

    Crocodile Bridge is said to be good for wild dogs though I have personally not had any luck there. However, I have seen them on the road between Satara and Orpen (close to Orpen). In Satara camp itself you have very good chances of seeing honey badger and african wild cat walking around in the evening.
    Klipspringer are fairly easy to find on the granite outcrops around Skukuza. The only serval I have ever seen was from a night drive out of Berg-en-Dal.
    So far I have not been to Pretoriuskop.
    Caracal are easier to see in De Hoop and West Coast National Park.
    I have as yet to see a pangolin though I have been to South Africa many times! Will try again in Kruger in September.

  • 11 January 2016
    Romain Bocquier

    Hi
    We stay one week in Kruger last february.
    Serval & caracal & Sable I don’t know…
    Wild dog many around Skukuza camp (each day)
    Honey badger, just one near Skukuza (south)
    Side Striped J each morning a hundred meter out to Letaba camp.
    Civet during Letaba night drive.
    Klipspringer south Skukuza.

    Have good time !

    Romain

  • 12 January 2016
    Rich Lindie

    Pretotiuskop is great for Wild Dogs. If looking for them there, or anywhere in the park for that matter, get onto the roads as soon as the gates open, and drive at the speed limit for the first hour or so. Or until you start to bump into traffic. Night drives around Pretoriuskop are not nearly as productive as those around Satara, Skukuza, Lower Sabie or Crocodile Bridge. There are, however, often sightings of some of the interesting smaller animals, like Serval. The grass is tall in the area.
    If you’re adamant about Crocodile Bridge or Lower Sabie only, both are great but I would go with Lower Sabie if you are going in the height of a dry period – sorry, i don’t know when the trip is planned for. I also recommend this because you have access to more areas from Lower Sabie.
    If Satara is an option, take that instead.
    The road from Lower Sabie up to Tshokwane has been good to me, in terms of Side-striped Jackal sightings.
    As mentioned above, the badger and civet are often found around Satara, and even other camps, at night – especially after the majority of people have gone indoors.
    Klipspringer is easy if you check ‘koppies’ in the early morning or late afternoon. especially the koppies at the pretoriuskop-skukuza-berg-en-dal junction. And that works nicely if you take the road from Pretoriuskop to Skukuza early morning for the dogs – a good idea!
    Ask rangers or look at recent sightings for word on the Sable – they move around. I have had a lot of luck on the main road north of Satara but, in all my years leading trips there, I haven’t found a single ‘good spot’. That could be as a result of my own incompetence or bad luck with the species, however.

  • 12 January 2016
    tomeslice

    Thanks for the replies, everyone!!
    Rich, I am staying 2 nights in Satara, and only then moving to “Southern” Kruger, so I will follow your advice!
    So for the wild dogs, are you basically saying I should just leave my camp as early as the gates open, and just shoot in 1 direction at the maximum speed allowed (speed limit, of course) until I run into them? Like, before other cars start to travel around?

    BTW I’m traveling Oct.1-24 (including Kruger, Pilanesberg, Marrick, Mokala, Mtn Zebra, De Hoop, West Coast NP, the Garden Route and Cape Town, mostly for mammals, partly for sight seeing)

    But to your point, since Sable antelopes really aren’t reliable there, I might try to focus on them along with Roans at Mokala when I’m there later in the trip.

    @asterid – I am also going to both of those places, which is why I’m going to try to concentrate on the dogs and the serval at Kruger, and hopefully once I see those two, I will try harder for the other species.

    Thanks again everyone!

    P.S. @vdinets I’d be very interested in the pangolin site for future expeditions.

  • 13 January 2016
    brugiere

    For Wild dog Skukuza seems the best ( I saw them twice there).

  • 26 January 2016
    mauricetijm

    Hi Tomer,

    We saw Serval on sunset and a morning drive from Crocodile Bridge but sightings reported to Latest Sightings were very sparse throughout the park. Both areas are a good choice, I experienced that many sightings just don’t reach the internet. The Wild Dogs we saw on the H4-2 and were seen by a lot of people when they started running weren’t reported by anyone. Rich his advice did match for the 2015 dry season with Wild Dogs seen on the tar above Pretoriuskop and quite a lot of Cheetahs on H1-1, If you don’t find the Dogs you can make a interesting detour via Phabeni gate and Kruger gate areas where they also are relatively often reported. The some holds for Crocodile Bridge: if they are not seen on the H4-2, you can try the S26 (adviced by the guide at Croc bridge) and make a detour via Afsaal and Malelane gate area. The S28 btw above Croc bridge produced many Cheetah sightings in the 2015 dry season. Just don’t let your mood depend on the Dogs too much, there are <300 in the WHOLE park and only active 3 hours a day (same story for the <250 Cheetahs). Having said that you never have a dull drive in Kruger and anything can show up anywhere.

  • 27 January 2016
    tomeslice

    Thanks @mauricetijm and Dominique!
    Don’t worry, my mood will not depend on any specific sighting. I will be happy with whatever I see 🙂
    I will definitely try the pretoriuskop area for the dogs, as well as the H4-2 etc.

    Only active 3 hours a day can be an advantage… it means if someone spots them and they’re resting, they’ll still be there an hour and a half later when I show up 🙂

    Thanks again everyone!
    Tomer

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