Addo Elephant NP

Red heartbeest.

A shrike.

Male kudo.

Warthogs or pumba.

It is always fun to watch elephants at a water hole.

Cape buffalo.

The beautiful red bishop.

A lapwing and chick.

Sunday, December 10^th.

We packed up early (what else is new) and headed off by 6:30. I sat up front with Colin and we drove for about three hours before we stopped at Port Alfred for shopping and to pick up our lunch. Then we continued on to Addo Elephant National Park.

We stopped at the reception area to check in and then began a game drive. The viewing here was good but unfortunately the big cats continue to elude us. The park is covered mostly in short bush veld, which is shrubs and small trees, but there were a few open areas that used to be farms before they made this area into a game park. We saw red heartbeest, kudos, elephants, warthogs, zebra, cape buffalo and a few different birds. Poor Colin was so tired that every time we stopped to watch animals he fell asleep and I had to wake him to continue. We drove for about three hours before heading back to camp to set up our tents.

Then we had time to relax. The weather is quite cool and breezy. I went and explored. I found the water hole game viewing area but there were no animals there. Then I found a bird hide where I watched red bishop and weaver birds going about their business in the marsh. I also found another viewing area which was a blind and from there I could see a lapwing sitting on a nest. As I watched she stood up and there were two tiny chicks underneath.

Jay made a fish bobotie, a one pot hake, curry and vegetable dish, for dinner and as usual we headed off to bed shortly thereafter.