A Remarkable Addo Day Trip (December 2016)

[PJL]

Valli is way too close for me

I would also reverse all the way back to the main camp

He can be quite intimidating

[PJL]

Peej!

I like those zebra..so clean with almost no shadow stripes...wonder why that is? Beautiful!

And unheard of korhaan chick!

And wonderful lion studies, and picking up on the buff horn...you really are very clever!

Who moans about naming wild animals?

I have noticed a few people moaning about it on FB... but when there are so few lion in the park it makes sense to name them as we get to recognise them quite quickly

[PJL]

But wait... what's over there? Huh? You must be kidding! As if what you saw wasn't already enough for a day

Incredible that you saw Valli Moosa again! But he did make sure to show you who is the king of the road... How close did he really get to your car?
Did you notice him giving you the eye? At least it looks like that in the video

More lions And Roy looks just as deranged regarding the scratches as Gibson

Now, let's deal with that cliff hanger

Yes I noticed at the time how he gave us quite a look and changed his direction of travel to come over towards us
By then there wasn't anything I could do about it but hold tight and see what he wanted to do... he probably came within 2 metres of me as I was recording him using my phone

[PJL]

Wow, you are brave to let Valli walk past like that...one shake of his head and there'd be a huge tusk through your door!

Great pics of Roy.

Haha... yes it was up to him what he wanted to do
I think if he had put a tusk through the door I would leave the hole there. War stories and all that

[PJL]

Now, let's deal with that cliff hanger

It was still just our car around, and driving down into Wayne's Valley I caught a glimpse of something in the distance on the edge of the grassy area at the base of the valley. My initial reaction was a male bushbuck... but hang on no... I couldn't believe my eyes - it was a brown hyena



This was now the second time we had seen one in Addo - seeing one is incredibly rare and a miracle in itself, but what luck to find another one



Fairly quickly it sat down, and although the road ran along the valley closer to where it was sitting, there's no way we would have been able to see it except from our vantage point higher up the hillside



We didn't have very long before we would need to be out the park for gate closing time, and thankfully the brown hyena decided to get up and walk in the direction of the road
I dashed down into the valley hoping that we would get a closer view, but once we had stopped on the road it was clearly shy and stopped moving closer. We could see it just behind the tall grass, but not clearly





After a few minutes it started retreating so we went back up onto the hillside so that we could still see it and wait for its next move...

Again, it started heading out towards the road, but this time I waited with a little more patience until it had definitely moved out into the open before driving down again for a closer view. And what a treat - it stood there right out in the open watching us





Finally the sound of another vehicle could be heard coming over the hill and this spooked the brown hyena, sending it running off into the bushes. Quite why it didn't run away from us I have no idea, but here was one last parting shot before it shot off




It had already been a brilliant day of game viewing with a great variety of sightings which had all been fantastic from a photographic perspective. But this brown hyena sighting took the day to a whole new level... particularly as it actually posed for some photos!

Thanks for joining me on this little day trip and hope you enjoyed it almost as much as we did at the time

[Mel]

.....

and more ......

I'm trying to find my "voice" again .....

stunning .....

marvellous .....

extra special ....

Seriously - this is too good to be true I know they exist in Addo ..... not only because you saw one before, but because I'm still adamant that we spotted one in the distance, also with only one car next to it, that had gone by the time we arrived. Or rather because we got distracted by that spotted hyena which is also a gem in Addo and by the time we got to the place where the brownie had moved through was dead empty

But ..... a brownie sooooo close is the cherry on the cake

Thanks for that really remarkable day

[Flutterby]

Awesome sighting!!

[Pumbaa]

WoW PJL,

without words about those incredible sightings - You must have had extreme luck

[Richprins]

Crap on toast!


Again???

Speechless, Peej!