Addo Outings 2015

[PJL]

The other day I took a day trip to the park with D. On the way I heard via a friend that the cubs had been seen on the southern section of Harveys loop the evening before, so that was where we went straight away. Unfortunately it was all very quiet so we presumed they had moved on. Our next guess was to try Vukani loop as it's not very far for a lion to wander across from Harveys. Along the way we found a jackal buzzard soaking up some sun and a cape longclaw surveying its territory.





Vukani had a few regulars, but as we neared the western side D chirped 'hyena'! Sure enough there was a lone hyena wandering along. I picked out its direction of travel and came to a stop where we thought it would appear.



As it moved along, a big warthog wasn't sure what to make of the situation and skirted round the hyena



Then the warthog decided it really didn't like the hyena and mounted a charge which had the hyena panicking a bit



We didn't mind, because the ambush brought him out on the road next to us



He then wandered in and out of the bushes nearby before eventually disappearing down a fire break.





D was thrilled - hyena are probably his favourite animal, and we don't get to see them very often in Addo. This was certainly the furthest south I've ever seen one, but I've heard of them even wandering down to the south gate and causing trouble with the security guards there

[Lisbeth]

Great pic of the longclaw

A wartie scaring away a hyena, must be a new game

[Mel]

Are there actually any well behaved animals in Addo? Cheetahs that break in, lions that break out and now hyenas that cause hassle to the security guards

Happy for D that he found himself his favourite animal! Must have been quite interesting to watch the interaction with the wartie.
Love the last shot - close, crisp and colourful.

[nan]

love the Longclaw and interaction between Hyena and Phacochère

[Richprins]

Didn't even know there were spotties there?

How do you know it's a boy, PJL?

Wartie had also probably never seen a hyena before!

[PJL]

Are there actually any well behaved animals in Addo?

You're quite correct Mel, none of the animals are well behaved. Except perhaps the elephants

Didn't even know there were spotties there?

How do you know it's a boy, PJL?

Yep there have been spotties in the park for as long if not a bit longer than the lions. I think the last 'census' they counted 19, but the number is much higher. There appear to be 2 or 3 clans in the park now with this one being part of a relatively new clan in the south of the park. The boy was just a guess

[PJL]

We swung round to Ngulube and managed to spot a caracal half way round the loop. Unfortunately it wasn't in the mood for photos and disappeared quickly into thick bush The lions were still nowhere to be found, but when we got to the crossroads we found a cute young kudu staying close to mom



At the waterhole we found the antics of this buffalo very amusing...
First a mud explosion



Followed by some rolling around



And then a look as if to say 'why are you watching me?'



Heading into the north of the park we went up to Mbabala loop. Not an area I visit very often, but sometimes when the lions are nowhere else to be seen they can sometimes be up there. It wasn't our luck on this day but they must have been somewhere up there as they were seen near Zuurkop the following few days. We caught a shy bushbuck as it darted off



And D spotted this terrapin that seemed to be rather a long way from water

[Lisbeth]

Cute Kudu bigear and the buff just love that mud, doesn't he

[Alf]

The mud looks cool

[Mel]

That terrapin looks as if it's actually quite amused

Well, the Addo buffs are not behaved either, now that I come to think of it... a) They plunge in their mud bath vigorously and cause much more collateral damage with all that flying mud than any other buffs I have seen so far and b) apparently they're a bit clumsy when peeing and seem to hit their feet (according to some very hysterically laughing males on our last trip ).

Great shots though!