Addo Elephant National Park
We
spend a night in Kirkwood and went on to Addo Elephant National Park. This is
our second visit there and we looked forward to the week we were going to spend
there. Click here to see my previous post on the accommodation etc
We are
eager to get into the Park as we loved it here last time. The shadows were
still long when we went past one of our favourite watering holes but not much
was stirring.
A
Black-backed Jackal is scarcely visible in the light and it looks as though he
might have found something to eat in the long grass.
A yellow
Aloe lends a bit of bright colour to the drying vegetation.
We came across
this Buffalo which had just got out of a mud hole. He is surely the dirtiest
one I have ever seen. LOL!!
A Fiscal
Shrike is hanging about on a branch waiting for it to warm up so that the
butterflies and insects can come out.
This very
large tortoise made me smile – it looked like he was pretending to be a rock
while sleeping and hoping that no one would notice him. J
Bush
Violets are small and lovely. They make a lovely show.
Laying on
the side of the road was a lioness with a radio collar on. Many of the animals
in the Park have them as the place is surrounded by human inhabitants and the
collars will give them an indication if any get out of the boundaries.
The
elephants are just the most beautiful I have come across. They are placid and
calm and totally unlike those in Kruger National Park. The one day while we
were parked by the watering hole, a youngish elephant came and gently put his
trunk against the back of my car and I could not understand why. It was only
when we got back to camp the we saw what attracted him. There were some very
ripe bananas in the back which he was smelling. J
Zebra
snails are as huge as my hand and this was a first time for me to see this
species also. I just love going to these regions which I do not know and have
not been able to get to in order to find things like this.
I do not
know what this bush is called but it looks like some kind of Euphorbia. These
low bushes were covered with magnificent yellow flowers.
A Boomslang
had been ridden over on the road. They are one of our deadliest snakes and if a
bite is not treated soon and correctly, death can occur.
Red
Hartebeest are a medium-large antelope and fairly common in our National Parks.
The top
highlight of our stay there for me was seeing this Rock Monitor. I have seen
pretty large ones up to 2m (6’) in length but this one was about 1.5 times as
large and the same girth as a crocodile. I have NEVER seen one so large!! A truly
fantastic sight to see. I wonder how old it is?
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