Wedding Anniversary at Addo Elephant National Park

Angela Weideman on 06 August 2021

An elephant only digests about 45% of it's food. The dung is mostly fibre.

Male ostriches are called cocks or roosters, and can weigh up to 156kg.

No two zebras have the same stripes. As in fingerprints in humans, each zebra's stripes is unique.

The Hartebeest, also known as "tough ox" is one of the fastest antelope, reaching speeds of up to 70km/h.

One of the most dangerous animals on the African continent, their horns have a fused base, forming a bone shield referred to as a "boss". It gorges and kills approximately 200 people a year.

Warthogs are day animals, and spend most of their time looking for food. They shelter in burrows at night, entering tail first.

The male Kudu's horns have 2 and a half twists, and if straightened would reach approximately 1.2 meters.

Our campsite was really lovely and spacious.

A very tame female Bushbuck walked through our campsite.

After we had settled into our campsite, we explored what the main camp had to offer.

Looking through the wooden fence on the way to the hide, we listened to this gentle giant chomping on acacia trees.

We were up early to see what the hide had to offer, armed with coffee and rusks.

Time to see what is at the underground hide.

Before we headed out to search for game, Deon made us a delicious "camping breakfast".

Cape Weavers, and yes the male is the prettiest. Their perfected nest building is a skill that comes naturally from birth. The male can fly up to 20km to search for nest material.

The Aloe grows up to 3 metres in height, it's sap contains the ingredients used in medicine and cosmetics.

I could watch these little guys all day, they are so entertaining. Interesting fact ... Meerkat babies are raised by adults other than their parents.

We headed here towards the end of the day hoping to see some animals coming down to drink.

I had eyes at the back of my head believe me!

The only visitor we had was an Aardwolf, looks very much like a hyena.

Visiting the Bird Hide in the main camp when we returned.

The monkeys had been very busy in the camp, even trying to get into our food container. Sadly Deon's hot cross buns were too good to resist.

Good morning from Domkrag Dam at the crack of dawn.

There were tons of Pied Starlings eating bugs.

This cute mouse was sunning itself in the early morning.

Sanparks encourage drivers not to drive over the dung in the road, so that the dung beetle can work.

Scrub Hares live in hollows pressed by their bodies under bushes. When they are threatened, they sit still until the very last second, before they bolt off at 70km/h in a zigzag fashion.

A pair of Egyptian Geese at a waterhole. They are crossed between a duck and a goose.

A whole family crossed in front of us - very special!

Jack's Picnic Site is very popular, but we were patient and eventually got the perfect spot.

It was 34 degrees on this day, felt like summer.

There are literally no monkeys at the picnic site.

A huge herd of elephants wallowing in the mud right in front of us. A very very special hour and a half!

We all loved mud baths when we were young, right?

It took him a whole 5 minutes to get into the water, but then the fun started.

Mamma is keeping a close eye on the little one to make sure he keeps his head above the mud.

Poor fella fell over trying to get out of the mud pool.

And Pumba, Hakuna Matata, is drinking and not worried about the tons and tons of weight around him.

Before we got to our campsite, we walked the 1.5km through the Honorary Ranger Project, a walkway through the dense bush, it was lovely!

Some of the accommodation in the main camp.

They have plans for 3 more trails featuring different aspects of nature.

Back at our campsite, it was fitting to celebrate our fantastic Ellie sighting.

Our last day dawned cold, with rain predicted (luckily not before we left the park). We stopped at Jack's Picnic Site for coffee and hot chocolate.

It's incredible how they little ones push up against their Mom as they walk.

Fork Tailed Drongo, renowned for being bullies.

There is something beautiful about this erosion.

This baboon was not having his photo taken. Every time I tried to focus on him, he would hide.

When you see this many cars, it has to be lion!

The lioness started stalking the herd of zebra and hartebeest.

The male who had been sitting in the grass, also got up and began walking towards the herd.

Meanwhile, a little further down the road, this male was trying to get the attention of his female companion, but she would have none of it!

Every year my hubby and I take turns surprising each other for our wedding anniversary. This year it was my turn and knowing that the elephant is my hubby’s all-time favourite animal, it made sense to book a long weekend at Addo Elephant National Park, 1640 square kilometres, and just over a 4-hour drive from George.

Entering from the Mathyolweni Gate, which is in the south of Addo, we drove the length of the Park to get to Addo Main Camp, (approximately 41km) which is where I had booked our camping site. On entering Mathyolweni Gate you are given a map, which we used to plan the next 3 days.

The weather was extremely comfortable in August, temperatures ranging between 22-27 degrees during the day but quite chilly in the early mornings. Not much rain had fallen so many of the waterholes were empty, except the odd man-made one. This didn’t stop the herds of elephants enjoying the mud, and it was truly special sitting at one of these “mud holes” for over an hour watching herd after herd rolling and playing, the babies were just the cutest.

I booked a caravan site (which is slightly bigger than the tent sites) in Addo Main Camp, complete with a wooden table and bench, electricity point and tap, which seem to be standard on all sites. Each site has ample shade and is situated very close to the ablution facilities and kitchen. The kitchen does have a freezer (no fridge), 2 plate stoves and sinks. Ablution facilities have 2 showers (with doors and toiletry holders) and 1 bath and are extremely clean.

Addo Main Camp has a Cattle Baron restaurant (bookings for dinner is advised), a well-stocked curio shop and a petrol station, and of course, there are game drives departing in the early evening and morning.

After dinner each evening, we would plan our driving course for the next day. We got up early in the morning and headed to the underground hide with our coffee and rusks. Sitting at the hide in the chilly air, squinting through the mist, trying to make out if there is an animal arriving to drink, surrounded by a deathly silence, was my idea of fun, not sure hubby agreed though, as he gleefully prepared our “camping breakfast” afterwards- eggs, bacon and mushrooms just taste better on a skottel!

On the first day, we covered the loops in the north, which wasn’t long at all, so we could get back to the camp and enjoy the Bird Hide and explore what the camp had to offer. On the second day, we explored the centre of Addo, stopping for a picnic lunch at Jack’s Picnic Site. We had to queue for a picnic table (be warned, it gets 100 times worse in December so get there early if possible), but what a lovely setup! On our final day, we travelled down to the south and drove the many loops, this is where we found our pride of lion and lionesses.

Please don’t be fooled into thinking that Addo is a miniature version of the Kruger Park, it is not, and has a beauty all its own. There are animals, like the giraffe, that you won’t find here, simply because the vegetation is not conducive to their type of habitat. Addo does have the Big 5, but what I found so special and different were the little mammals that we saw, often we spend our game drives looking in the distance for the big animals but do yourself a favour, investigate the undergrowth, there you will see the fox, mongoose, meerkat or hare – all equally as special.

If you would like to plan a trip then please get in touch.

Previous Blog Next Blog