Gecko 81 at Addo – Day 5

Wednesday, 08 June 2022

This morning the temperature was relatively warm and getting out of bed was not too bone-chilling.   We were ready to set off by 8:30 and made our way toward the southern part of the park.   We did not find the lions!    At first, there was very little to see and elephants were conspicuous by their absence.   Later in the day, this changed and we saw some at a number of the water holes and in the bush.  Hapoor Waterhole, however, did not host any elephants at all.  For some reason, the elephants are more spread out and in smaller groups than usual.   Zebras, however, seem to be gathering in very large herds.

This beautiful canary was the first bird to greet us this morning

Always beautiful to see and hear. There were lots of bokmakieries about today

Mousebirds were also all over the place

Buffalo and Red-hartebeest ignore each other

What a place for a crow to perch! The buffs don’t look impressed. Ngulube Waterhole

Burchell’s Coucal spotted on the other side of the road

And these warthogs too

Red Hartebeest were about too

Near Lismore a baby zebra feeds

Marion Baree hosted a good number of elephants

And they were in a playful mood

We stopped at Jack’s Picnic site for our breakfast break.  This site is kept beautifully neat and tidy and the restrooms are clean.  There are lovely little secluded sites with picnic tables and braai places.  There are no bins and you need to take your rubbish away with you.  This prevents monkeys from entering the site to raid the trash cans.  It works.  We did not see a single vervet while we were there.  At the caravan park, we have to keep a close lookout for monkeys and make sure that no food is left outside and the grocery cupboard door is kept closed even while we are sitting outside.  Our cousins are very opportunistic and will grab whatever they can if given half the chance.

Jack’s Picnic Site

Picnic sites protected by spekboom

This boubou tried his luck – but rules are rules!

Mr. Shelduck was visiting Hapoor but no sign of his wife.

Mrs. Moorhen was there with several chicks but she seemed to have a favourite

She kept feeding just this one – to be fair he was the only one who came close to where she was foraging. The others were late to the dinner table!

Come on down little brother – Mom’s got food!

The spoonbill was back at Rooidam

Ghwarrie had a few ellies

They were preparing to leave when we arrived

Woodlands seems to be the place they prefer and so do the kudu

As we neared the gate this giant approached us.

And passed a little too close for comfort!

We returned to camp at 1 pm.   The weather was stunning with the temperature quickly rising to 28 degrees C.