KNP HISTORY: History of Camps

“Satara is located on the Shitsikana Spruit, a small tributary of the upper N’wanetsi Spruit that flows into the Rio Incomati in Mozambique.”

» Part 7: Satara – jewel of the central plains

« Joep Stevens is a keen historian who was introduced to the Kruger National Park by his parents in 1966. This ignited his interest in and passion for the Park.

In Issue 6 of KRUGER MAGAZINE, we started a new feature under History, namely that of the camps, and we looked at the camps that are no longer. In our autumn edition, we look at one of the early favourites, namely Satara Camp.

1. Origin of the name

Satara was the name of the farm surveyed by the surveyor WH Gilfillan on which the rangers’ post and later the camp lay. It is actually a misspelling of the Hindi word ‘Satrah’ meaning ‘seventeen’. Satara is located on the Shitsikana Spruit, a small tributary of the upper N’wanetsi Spruit that flows into the Rio Incomati in Mozambique (spelt ‘Komati’ in South Africa).