Africa Wild

"What?" I hear you say... "How can a day trip possibly be a travel tale?"...

It's a fair question! As many of you know I try to keep this thread updated with some of the highlights from our many visits to Addo. But once in a while a day comes along where the quality, variety and rarity of the sightings combine to make it really special, so I've decided to make it into a mini travel tale. I hope you'll enjoy the ride and the sightings

So let's jump straight in... we normally enter the park at Matyholweni gate in the south as it's closest to us, but this day we decided to venture north to the main gate. There had been talk of lion around the Domkrag area, but by the time we arrived there was no sign of them. I was a bit disappointed because my parents (who live overseas) were with us and they haven't had much luck recently on lion sightings when they've been here. Not to worry... there was a full day ahead and surely plenty of other things to see.

Our first interesting sighting of the day was a duiker. We don't see them too often in Addo, and when they are seen they often bolt away very quickly. However we caught this one in the middle of its 'business' and managed to get a very quick pic before it darted away



Further round Nzipondo Loop (that's the proper name for the loop around Domkrag) we found a rather scruffy looking jackal. The jackals in Addo do suffer from mange, but I think this one was just a bit old more than anything else



A short while later a juvenile jackal buzzard decided to fly into a bush right next to our car



It had been a decent start to the day despite the lack of cats. We knew from friends staying in the park that the previous day there had been a lion kill right next to the dirt road to Hapoor so we figured that would be a good place to try next. As we approached Rooidam we were treated to a stunning view of a malachite sunbird

As we neared the site of the buffalo kill from the previous day, there was suddenly a roadblock of cars ahead... there were elephants all around in the bushes and one particular big boy was blocking the road



There's only one elephant in Addo with tusks like this chap and that is Valli Moosa
He was one of the bull elephants relocated from Kruger a number of years back to help with the genetic diversity of the elephants within Addo. After a bit of standing around he turned to give us a nice view of those massive tusks



A couple of youngsters went wandering up to him which gave some perspective on his size



Despite being in musth, he appeared quite calm with the youngsters, however that is no guarantee of how he might react to vehicles



After a while he got the herd moving



And the sight of the oncoming elephants must have been daunting for people travelling from the other direction



Fairly soon Valli had a few cars reversing and turning around to get out his way



Once the herd had finally moved off the road a bit we were able to dare to drive past the big man



Little did we know at the time, but this was going to be the first of a number of encounters with this magnificent elephant on this particular day

Now then... where was that buffalo kill and were the lion still around?

Brilliant shots, PJL,

especially love the jackal buzzard, the sunbird and for sure Valli Moosa

The first part was a bit boring...but nice Kruger tusker!

Do you agree with bringing a separate subspecies in just to make tusks bigger? I don't.

Good that you identify the pee on the hind legs as musth, not the temporal glands!

Pumbaa wrote:Brilliant shots, PJL,

especially love the jackal buzzard, the sunbird and for sure Valli Moosa

Thanks Pumbaa

Richprins wrote:The first part was a bit boring...but nice Kruger tusker!

Do you agree with bringing a separate subspecies in just to make tusks bigger? I don't.

Good that you identify the pee on the hind legs as musth, not the temporal glands!

Sorry you got bored RP... and yes more than just the temporal glands

I'm not sure they were brought in for tusk size - the others aren't big tuskers
The elephant numbers dwindled to about 20 individuals at one point so some fresh blood is a good thing.

Although a slow start, the duiker is unusual - I think I've only ever managed 1 photo before in Addo... and the malachite has never posed so nicely before

You never seize to surprise me! This time it's the duiker I didn't have a clue about it occurring in Addo
Maybe you could try to find that elusive leopard that supposedly exists in the park?

The jackal buzzard is a beau

Fantastic elephant sighting! But are you trying to say that Valli Moosa is not as placid as the other Addo elephants? Just asking in case I should ever cross his way (which I actually pray for...)

A great start to the day!

So, what about those lions?

Mel wrote:You never seize to surprise me! This time it's the duiker I didn't have a clue about it occurring in Addo
Maybe you could try to find that elusive leopard that supposedly exists in the park?

The jackal buzzard is a beau

Fantastic elephant sighting! But are you trying to say that Valli Moosa is not as placid as the other Addo elephants? Just asking in case I should ever cross his way (which I actually pray for...)

I've seen duiker perhaps 3 or 4 times in the park now Mel, but they are incredibly skittish
One of these days we'll find a leopard... I hope

Valli is normally a very gentle giant, but it's easy to be caught off-guard in Addo where the elephants are generally so peaceful. Minor incidents have happened from time to time, and it's always important to try read any signs of irritation at each sighting. A few days prior to this, Valli was apparently in a very grumpy mood and was chasing cars away from the parking area at Hapoor

Flutterby wrote:A great start to the day!

So, what about those lions?

Thanks Flutts

Yeah... those lions... far too good at hiding