Gecko 81 at Addo – Day 6

Thursday, 09 June 2022

Late yesterday afternoon after I had posted my blog the Earl and I went for a walk to the camp waterhole and were pleased to find elephants there.

Addo Camp Water Hole

Our lovely men braaing out dinner last night

Today was a slow day.  We only got up after 8 am and decided to spend the morning in camp.  We went to the camp restaurant, The Cattle Baron, for breakfast.  We both had the sunrise – scrambled eggs, bacon, rosti and tomato reasonably priced at R 55 if I remember correctly.  Earl had a cappuccino and I had an Americano. The staff were friendly and efficient.

We went out for a drive at midday and were back around 3:30 pm.   The animals were once again scattered about the landscape which hugely enhanced the view.   The weather was sunny but a little cooler than yesterday and toward the end of the afternoon dark clouds began to gather. Because of the cloud cover, the evening was a little warmer than it would have been on a clear night.

Elephants were everywhere.  Zebra played happily at almost all the waterholes we visited.  Male kudu with wonderfully beautiful horns showed off and the females with their gorgeous eyes entertained us too. Let’s not forget the handsome hartebeest and just one buffalo and an eland with a missing horn. As usual, we also stopped for the birds!

The first bird of the day was just outside our caravan. The tap tap tap alerted me to its presence. It is a female Cardinal Woodpecker if I am not mistaken.

Soon after exiting the gate, we stopped for the ellies. They were very close

We were about to pass by when this one took the right of way!

One of the gorgeous boys who appeared quite frequently

This suricate in a tree made us laugh

Jumbo is making his way to Domkrag

The herd in the background has just left. The zebra to the right make way for him

He has the pond to himself

Is he admiring his reflection?

The Earl captured some stunning photographs of the Ant-eating Chat.

And a Wattled Starling made an appearance too.

Carol’s Rest was hosting a variety of animals – I just managed to snap the eland before he left in a hurry

I wonder what happened to his other horn

He couldn’t get away fast enough

This young red hartebeest was content to nap in the car park

Ellie wanted a drink too. But the proprietor has an exclusion policy – Not giants allowed and if he tries to break through he will get a shock!

So he storms off in a huff. The zebras don’t mind!

Something made this guy jump.

Come on, Porkies – Get a room!

The wildflowers in the park are beautiful

We were delighted to find chest-nut vented warblers but they would not sit still for a decent portrait.

This is an old one from the archives