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I had been unable to undertake my annual Christmas holiday to Cape Town for the past three years due to international travel restrictions imposed by the Covid pandemic. On this occasion however with it finally becoming a reality, I had arranged to travel to Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth) at the invitation of my dear friend Dorelle Sapere, whom I had known since about 1986. In the process we had discussed visiting the world-renowned Addo Elephant National Park, a first for me. For the outing we joined her close friends Rory and Melissa Riordan in their 4-wheel drive vehicle, more suited to the rigours of gravel road conditions, with the added bonus that they are also regulars to the park and quite knowledgeable in the main.
We had a whale of a time and our hosts rated our sightings at 8 out 10 compared to previous visits. The extensive list included elephant, which number some 600 in the park, a secretary bird, a solitary buffalo, red hartebeest, eland, kudu, zebra, warthog and hyena. Lions were spotted quite some distance away and only with the aid of binoculars. These were introduced into the park relatively recently to offset the numbers of certain game in the park, an experiment that hadn’t really worked because they were targetting a different species. Addo Elephant National Park is a diverse wildlife conservation park situated close to Gqeberha and is one of the country’s 20 national parks. It currently ranks third in size after Kruger National Park and the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. We entered Addo via the south gate at Matyholweni on the Colchester side, adjacent to the Sundays River, parts of which are conservation areas.
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Despite the Eastern Cape experiencing a water shortage, recent rains had transformed the lush green vegetation. In fact there had been some rain in the morning and cloudy and cool conditions made for excellent viewing conditions. The elephant sightings especially were numerous and spectacular in particular on the Ngulube Loop and at one point Rory nervously monitored the body language of two huge bull elephant, who may easily have charged, in event that the herd in close proximity to the road felt threatened in any way. It was a moving and memorable experience and I am grateful to those who made it possible, to bare witness to what is a true miracle of nature, being able to view wild animals in their natural habitat.
Given that there are some 600 elephant in the reserve according to the Sanparks website, the probability of sightings is relatively high. We had hoped to see more of the 400-odd buffalo. Black rhino have also been introduced to the reserve however details are sketchy due the need to protect them against the threat posed by poachers.
Rory recalled a previous event where a bush pig came running out of the bush and under a car, followed by a lion that desperately tried to claw its prey from underneath. The precise ending of this particular fight for survival is nit known.
The Visitor’s Centre at the North side main gate, where we also enjoyed the most exquisite cappuccinos on the adjacent restaurant. We had earlier stopped for a picnic lunch at Jack’s Picnic site Botanical Reserve, lovingly prepared by Dorelle and Melissa. It was a real treat for me personally to be there in such company and I would very much hope to visit this excellent park again in the near future!
Read the full blog and view photo album here.
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