Africa Wild

I'm sitting in Addo looking up at the myriad of stars overhead and listening to the jackals calling... can't be bad! Hoping for some great sightings tomorrow as we leave the park

Toko wrote:You keep us in suspense

Yes - and sorry but I'm going to keep you in suspense for a bit longer

So last weekend was planned a while back - a chance for me to take the kids camping in Addo, while my wife was busy with a conference. Plus it was a bit of a birthday treat for myself
Work has unfortunately been really busy over the past few weeks (those of you in Germany/UK may have noticed Amazon launching their instant video service... that's what I was heavily involved in), so I was only able to get away about 2:30pm on Friday. There wasn't really time to take a drive through the park from the south entrance, so I took the road up north through Addo village to the main camp entrance. Although a bit bumpy in places, the notorious potholes have at least been filled in, so we made good time.

It had been a pleasant 28 degrees leaving PE, and bumped up to 36 when we arrived at camp. As we were busy pitching the tent there were some ominous rumblings in the distance which added to our haste. No sooner was the tent up than the heavens opened and the sky was lit up by plenty of lightening... not exactly ideal game viewing weather, but we popped into the park for a quick evening drive to see if anything was around. It was so dark from the storm that we had our lights on, and it made photography tricky to say the least!

This Steppe Buzzard didn't seem overly impressed with the rain



At Gwarrie we found these dagga boys



We saw plenty of BBJ milling around. I think the rain brings out a lot of bugs/frogs etc so it gives them a good chance to find a snack



We also saw a duiker, but it vanished so quickly there was no time for photos. The park was otherwise very quiet - both in terms of animals and vehicles, though the campsite was full. We learned later that the Addo Trail Run was taking place the same weekend, so a lot of people staying at the camp were there to run rather than go game viewing. That helped keep the park a bit quieter but they all got up at 4:30am to head off to the start of the run, so we were all woken up as well
TBC...

Mel wrote:

PJL wrote:This Steppe Buzzard didn't seem overly impressed with the rain

But maybe the young pale chanting goshawk wasn't overly impressed because you called him a steppe buzzard.

Hope the rain ceased and you enjoyed a dry game drive the next day.

Great spot Mel
Very tricky to tell them apart - particularly the juveniles... but you're right, the legs are definitely turning orange

By Saturday morning, the rain had cleared but again the park felt very quiet - it's strange sometimes how a day can seem very quiet, but when you look back at your photos you realise that you had some lovely sightings!

First up, a small herd of Ellies on the dirt road between Rooidam and Hapoor



Youngsters having a laugh




We came across some very delicate looking pooshrooms, and after the rain the dung beetles were starting to show themselves





As we headed south, there is a steep hill between Marion Baree and Wayne's Valley. A couple of cars had stopped by a small waterhole which is virtually hidden from the road by bushes, but we were treated to seeing Roy walking up the bank and away from the water having just had a drink. Nomad was in the distance as well, but this was about the only photo I was able to take. They moved away from the road and out of sight behind some bushes.



On the one hand it was brilliant to have a lion sighting - if we had been there 1 minute later we would have missed them... but if we had been there 2 minutes earlier it could have been even better

TBC...

You're right Lisbeth - finding lion in Addo isn't always easy!

We continued our morning drive into the southern section of the park and tried to cover most of the loops in search of more cats, but we weren't to have any further luck on that front. On Harvey's Loop we found these dagga boys and a fleet of young warthog






After Harvey's we took the southern access road down towards Ngulube and found Red Hartebeest close to the road




Ngulube Loop had some buffalo in places, as well as this kudu playing hide and seek




And those of you who have been to Addo will recognise this rather unusual landscape (I must find out sometime what causes it )




Back at the crossroads as we headed north again and back in the general direction of the main camp, this young chap was posing nicely for us



TBC...

nan wrote:can't remember where are the red landscapes
maybe because of the rain, they was not so red

You certainly seemed to have a wet trip when you were there nan!
The landscape is on the Ngulube loop

As we travelled back into the northern side of the park the sun started to come out in full force, and we got to see a few smaller creatures along the road.

My kids love the dung beetles - particularly when they're trying to roll balls of dung along. This was a particularly fresh one




A chunky leopard tortoise came strolling along




We also came across quite a few huge snails - I believe giant african land snails. I haven't seen them often in the park, but they were all over the place on this day!




As we travelled down the hill towards Spekboom we could see that there was a herd of elephant drinking, so we pulled in, hopped out the car and dashed down to the fence. There was a very little one in the herd, and he/she made us chuckle with the very exploratory use of its trunk



Blowing bubbles



Everyone wave



TBC...

Back at camp, we had to move from a caravan site to a tent pitch as when we booked all the caravan sites were fully booked for the Saturday night
It was another hot day - not the kind of weather to be moving a tent around, but we had a nice cool off in the pool once it was done
Given the heat I was sure we'd see some herds of elephant at Hapoor, so we started our afternoon drive in that direction. But when we got there the place was deserted
Instead we decided to head up over Zuurkop and head towards Carols Rest - according to the sightings board lion had been seen on the Gorah loop in the morning

The view from Zuurkop is great






On the way up to Carols Rest we found this BBJ




Carols Rest itself was quiet, but on the way down we got some nice sightings including this Steppe Buzzard and Black Headed Heron





TBC...

Our next sighting was a real highlight for me. There are plenty of yellow mongoose around in the park, but I never seem to find them close to the road. This time we found a mother and child just crossing the road, and we managed to sneak up on them and bag a few photos whilst they were foraging at the side of the road








Our final sighting of the day was a very majestic-looking PCG




As I said earlier, it felt like a quiet day in the park, but we did indeed have some lovely sightings. However the next morning was a very special pre-birthday treat for me...

So what surprise would be waiting for us in the morning? As we drove out the gates we stumbled almost immediately on a big male buffalo who walked no more than a few metres away past our car
But the really special sighting was waiting for us at Woodlands waterhole. Norman and Zwaai had killed a warthog and were busy finishing their breakfast

Zwaai




Norman busy eating






Checking the jackals weren't coming too close




Which morsel next?






All that biltong made them very thirsty






Needless to say, we were thrilled!