Tamboti Tented Camp

We were up at 4:30am. A few cars had just left but I didn’t see much point in going out before the sun was up because we wouldn’t be able to take photos the only reason we were up at this time was because today is our last day at Maroela and we are moving. I think this camp has become our favourite. We’ve had good neighbours for the most part, the hyena have stayed with us nearly 24/7, it’s quiet and clean and seems very chilled unlike other camps. By 9pm most people are in bed.
We left camp just before 6am and got off the dirt track that leads to Maroela and down 500 meters of tar road and there was our first road block. It was the wild dogs and this time they weren’t sleeping. A few were just standing at the side of the road and then they all started to walk towards us. Everybody else in the queue was facing the other way as they had come from Satara Camp and as the dogs walked past the car I turned around and joined the queue. I could see they wanted to move across the grassland so I overtook all the other cars and turned right back towards camp and slowly drove down the gravel track. We could just see them coming across the plain and we passed a small group of Impala.
Just as we passed the Impala the wild dogs saw them, the impala barked an alarm and then took off. The wild dogs instantly went into chase mode. Only food runs!!
The wild dogs looked just like any other dog chasing a deer but the dynamics were different. As soon as the chase started there was 3-4 dogs chasing the impala. Then there were other dogs that run out to the sides diagonally. This is to flank the impala if they change direction. The dynamics were unbelievable to watch. It’s like a well oiled machine of communication but there’s no words. Wherever a dog is when the chase starts it knows what it has to do in that position.
We spent about 30 minutes watching and following the wild dogs and 1 hyena and unfortunately this time they didn’t get breakfast. It had been a very exciting morning and it wasn’t even 7 o Clock.
We made our way to Satara and as we got closer the herds thinned out and there wasn’t much to see. At Satara we grabbed coffees to go and made our way back to Maroela.
Half way back I looked across the veld and suddenly saw 3 rhino in the bushes. This is super rare for this area and something we haven’t seen before.
Back at camp we had breakfast and then packed up. It was now 12pm and we took a very slow drive to Orpen camp to see if they would let us have the keys to our safari tent.
Luckily for us the lady on the reception was feeling generous and let us check in early and she gave us the keys to safari tent 19, then we made our way back towards Maroela turning right 400 meters before the camp and driving another kilometre down and over a cattle grid and into the Tamboti tented camp.
Tamboti tented camp is safari tents and we took a look around it the other day and saw lots of bushbuck in the camp itself, so for an extra £7 we decided to have one night here out of the trailer.
The tent itself was basic, but spacious with 4 beds inside and a small table. On the outside is a big covered veranda with 4 chairs around a small table. There is also a 6 foot cage with double doors, one door has a fridge freezer in and the other has shelves to keep pantry stuff and cooking stuff. We brought up the food we needed for the night and the cups and kettle and then went off to the shared ablutions for showers. Then we chilled on the veranda for the afternoon where I found a giant African land Snail and also some empty bug exoskeletons and after googling what they were we found out they were cicada.
Once dinner was done we went and done the washing up and watched the baby vultures in the trees calling for their mums.
Then when it got dark we set the trap camera in the hole we’d catch a honey badger on camera overnight.Läs mer