Addo Outings 2016

[PJL]

It was an adult buffalo for sure Mel, but not too old... so I'm sure the steaks were tender

[Mel]

[Pumbaa]

What a fantastic sighting, PJL

and what a privilege to live that close

[PJL]

Incidentally I do have something to add to that as well regarding the fences



But I'll cover all of that properly soon

So I'll admit, that picture wasn't really to do with the fence. There's something else there...

One of the reasons we hadn't been planning on going to Addo on Wednesday was that I had plans for the very next day. The cold, wet and windy weather of Wednesday was due to pass and Thursday was going to be calm and warmer - perfect conditions for the aardvark to make an appearance
At least we knew where to find lions now

So off we went and managed to get to the area on Mbotyi where it has been seen a few times and the wait began. Every termite mound was checked through binoculars and every warthog examined

After 45 minutes of looking around I had a feeling it wasn't going to be our day, so we figured we would head round and see if there was any activity by the lions. On our way a strange lump appeared right next to the road. I couldn't believe my eyes... this was the AARDVARK!!!!



It was incredibly close to the road and in my excitement of trying to get the car in a place where we could see it clearly I nearly didn't get any close photos at all



Within a matter of seconds it decided to cross the road right in front of us and trundled off on the other side - mainly with its back to us. Not ideal for photos, but still just amazing to see





Lesson number 1 in aardvark photography... any photo is a good one as they so rarely have their heads in the open facing you

As it moved away from us, I did manage to get a couple of shots when it went through clearings in the bush, but more often than not it looked just like a moving termite mound







Every so often it would stop and dig at termite mounds, and as it was doing so some warthog were moving in its direction. Sensing something coming it stopped motionless as the warthog approached



But once it figured out the approach was warthog and not a predator it carried on moving which gave the warthogs a big fright
Shortly after they appeared to be best friends with both eating next to each other



We carried on watching the earth pig for about 40 minutes in total... so here are a few last shots before it was too far away









We were obviously totally thrilled with this sighting... perhaps a once in a lifetime kind of thing. But remarkably it was out again in the same area the next day. I'm not sure why this one has such an early time for getting up and about. It does appear to be blind in its left eye, but I'm not sure whether that would make any difference because they don't use their eyes much at all anyway

With a bit of luck, perhaps this one will stay in the area long enough for a few more encounters

[Lisbeth]

You managed Amazing animal!!

[Flutterby]

Wow, just amazing!!

[Mel]

Incredible!!! So great that you finally found that aardvark
I'm totally stunned by the fact how similar they look to warthogs when you can only see their backs.

[harrys]

Wow wonderful sighting this aardvark

[Dewi]

Amazing.

Great pics of it as well.

[Richprins]

Shows you what perseverance brings, Peej!

Also exqisite lion feeding pics1

(aardvark and vlakvark, sitting in a tree!)