Your Kruger National Park Guide - With Stories. Frans Rautenbach

afternoon I drove along the S36 from the direction of Muzandzeni, and turned right onto the H7 towards Satara. At that point there’s some 20 kilometres left before Satara, and I had little more than half an hour to reach the camp. Still all well and good, one would think, were it not for the fact that when I made the turn – it becomes quite dusky by five o’clock in July – there were a number of beige-yellow objects like grain bags across the road: several adult lions were enjoying the late afternoon warmth of the tar.

      They had probably walked up from the Timbavati after drinking, and stopped to have a team talk about the night’s hunt. They lay in such a way that they blocked the road completely. Eventually I had to push the nose of my vehicle between them until they lazily made way.

      By sheer coincidence the next night I drove the same road – with exactly the same result.

      If on any given day you don’t feel like driving, still consider doing a decent distance in the late afternoon. Plan it in such a way that you’re on the road in the magical hour before closing time. I promise you won’t regret it.

      Cars have the nasty habit of breaking down… 1950s

      … and in 2013