We woke at 6 - we're still on Kwandwe time!
I still have an upset stomach - that bug is certainly hanging around.
We had breakfast and then joined our new Dutch friends who were on the same Addo game drive as us. Our guide is Ilana, a young girl.
It was a strange start to the morning - misty, drizzly and cold. Then, as soon as our jeep got just outside of the Park gates, all of the mist lifted and the sun was out. This was a good thing as we were freezing in the jeep (even with several layers and our "ponchos" on).
Addo Elephant Park is a National Park and we could have self driven in there - but we decided that it would be better to have a guide and so we'd booked on the trip. Ilana was excellent - she was incredibly knowledgeable and there wasn't a plant, bird, insect or mammal that she could not give detailed information about. I was hugely impressed.
http://www.sanparks.org/parks/addo/
We saw:
Red hartebeest
Kudu
Yellow Mongoose
Warthogs - everywhere!
White necked raven
Ibis (Hadeha)
Southern Booboo
Ostrich
Helmeted guinea fowl
Tortoise
And - a huge dung beetle rolling her dung ball across the road, while her male partner just watched. No further comment on this! I was so pleased to see the dung beetle as I wanted to know how big they are in real life. They're about 2-3 inches long. You're not allowed to drive over the elephant dung (which is everywhere) at Addo so as to protect this rare species.
What about eles? Oh yes - we did see some, eventually. In fact we'd given up hope. Poor Ilana must have driven up and down every single loop road in the park when all of a sudden we rounded a corner just in time to encounter a small herd of 6 munching their way through the trees and then crossing the road right by our jeep. I couldn't believe how close they come. Definitely not shy eles. Then we saw a large group in the distance down by a watering hole, including a few huge bulls - but by the time we'd got down there, the elephants had wandered on. Still, a great morning.
On our way out of the park we had to pull up sharp behind a car that had stopped. The driver was out of the car and loading plant material (Ilana said it was spekboom, which the locals eat like a salad leaf) into his boot. She shouted to him that it was illegal to a) be out of your car in the park unless at a designated spot (there are lions in Addo) and b) it was HIGHLY illegal to remove any vegetation from the park. He just smiled and said Thank You.
Stupid man. Within seconds, Ilana had clocked his vehicle reg and phoned ahead to the Park Gate to ensure that he got searched on exiting.
So - back at Elephant House for about 2. What to do this afternoon? Ilana gave us some ideas.
http://www.elephanthouse.co.za/
We decided on a drive up the Zuurberg Pass into the mountains where we'd seen a one hour circular walk. Looked like just the right length walk. We quickly found (after paying our way on to the trail) that it was another treacherous South African walk! We took a very rocky climb down and down and down (all the time thinking "I've got to get back up this) and then the trail levelled out for a while. But followed the edge of the mountain along a sheer cliff edge for some distance. We didn't look down much! Fortunately the road back up to the car park was nice and smooth and actually a fairly gentle incline. We saw some incredible insects on the trail! This was the first exercise we'd done in about a week so it was nice to stretch the legs out.
We got back in time for afternoon tea and cake (which was delicious) and then decided to have a look around the Addo Valley Raptor and Reptile Centre. We had a couple of hours to pass before getting ready for dinner and it wasn't really hot enough to sit out in the gardens.
http://www.addoraptorreptile.com/about_us.html
Now, generally speaking, I'm not a huge fan of animals in cages, but this place was a bit different.
Darren, the guy who runs it, took us round and we were there for nearly 2 hours - holding snakes, feeding hawks, meeting all his "friends". He really is a great guy - kind of a South African Steve Irwin type, really passionate about what he does. Roy loves reptiles (maybe it's a boy thing) and so was delighted to hold a baby black mamba (one of the deadliest snakes in the world). He also liked having two pythons wrapped around his neck! I can't say that I was as pleased when Darren popped one of them on my shoulders, too - but I guess you have to try these things. "Go on" he said "It's like having a massage, it's nice". It wasn't!
I did like feeding the kite and owls. Holding an owl on my (gloved) hand was very special. And very heavy! Darren takes in injured snakes and birds and he trys to rehabilitate most of the birds and let them go. I tell you - this was the best R40 I spent!
Dinner was at the Elephant House again. There is another restaurant in walking distance but we decided to stay put.
Roy: Onion, Saffron and Herb zapped tomato tart/Lamb shank, roasted veg and mash/Spiced apple pie.
Jan: Beetroot, rocket and avo salad with seeds and lime dressing/Herb baked chicken breast, potato wedges and veg/Malva Pudding with ice cream
My dinner was not quite as advertised! The seeds and lime dressing weren't there, and the chicken breast was a scrawny leg. But the malva pudding was excellent and made up for it.
We shared a bottle of white and then Roy had the largest Irish Coffee I've ever seen in my life!
