Satara is where you go in Kruger for cats. The camp sits on the open central plains, a band of sweet grassland that feeds huge herds of zebra, wildebeest and buffalo, and where the grazers go the predators follow. The result is the densest lion and cheetah country in the park, and a camp so associated with the sound of roaring after dark that regulars plan their trips around it. This is not the scenic Kruger of rivers and cliffs. It is flat, open and all about the hunt.
The drives are the point. The gravel S100, running east along the N’wanetsi River, has a near-legendary reputation for lion, often whole prides strung out in the grass, and the open ground suits cheetah, which need room to run. The tarred and gravel roads around it link the herds the cats depend on, so the way to find predators is to find the grazers first, then slow down. On these open plains you can also read the sky: circling vultures mark a kill, and a kill often means lions. It rewards patience and a slow pace over distance covered.
Set your expectations for what Satara is. Come for predators and big herds rather than river views, drive the S100 at first light when the prides are still out, and take a guided night drive to be among the roaring instead of behind the fence. Geographically it sits halfway up the park, between the river camps of the south and scenic Olifants to the north, which makes a couple of nights here the natural middle leg of a longer Kruger trip.
