Day 15: Addo to Port Elizabeth, Thursday, Sept 11
QOTD:
Well I hate it when the blood starts flowin',
But I'm glad to see resistance growin'.
Weather: Cool on the sunrise tour, then warming up to be beautiful day in Addo E (e for elephant) P and just like Storms River it is raining lightly when we leave the restaurant after dinner
The tour is led by the same guy, Mpuni, from the sundown tour of yesterday. Hoping to repeat lion sightings, he takes us back to where we saw them yesterday afternoon; no luck, the two guys have moved. So, after a slow start, it picks up considerably as we spot: zebras, jackals fleeing over a hill; first one then several and finally a huge herd of buffalo that cross the road in front of us; red hartebeests; a few kudus; and at the nearby watering hole three parts of one elephant family, Lots of pics and a few short videos.
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| Jackal heading over the hill, fast |
Sundown tour: $38pp with a drink of your choice
Sunrise tour: $25pp without a drink of your choice (it would’ve been HOT tea or coffee).
Both extremely worthwhile, and good grounding for the rest of our day.
Return well after 8am for breakfast: everyone has versions of the granola, with four coffees, $32. Pop into the store and buy a few more items to supplement our leftovers for a picnic lunch, $18.
On the way back to our units to shower (THB), finish packing and checkout we see outright larceny: one of the other overnighters has left his car open while he goes inside his unit to get his suitcases. While he’s gone, an adult and child vervet monkey figure out a) where the food is b) how to open the tupperware containers and c) how fast they can eat and run.
After checkout, we begin a self-guided tour of the park with THB driving (stay left and shift are the only worries now, the roads are empty and the speed limit is 25mph and more normally you proceed at about 15mph), wandering paved and unpaved roads, seeing many warthogs, various other animals and birds, and a stop for our picnic lunch: the only place you’re allowed to get out of your car, the picnic area is fenced in, with lots of spots in the shade to eat and bbq AND a loo!
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| This bird was at our picnic and THB did not do a good job of taking is picture |
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| Pretty nice set-up for a picnic ground |
After our lunch, escaping the eating enclave, we spy a large amount of elephant droppings followed by about 12-15 elephants grazing along the side of the road.
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| The fifth leg, Gentleman's vegetables, or the Gentleman's sausage |
THB is taking this video while driving!! Not recommended in case the elephants have a change of direction
Then, they are ON the road...we carefully follow, though the consensus in the car is they should’ve tilted to the right side so we could pass on the left. A few more elephants show up from behind and pass us on the right without signallng. The bull in charge had what our guide from the bus tours politely called a fifth leg; it was one longggggg member. Much unflattering comparisons from the female on my left.
Before we escape the park around 2:45, we see two male elephants squaring off (can’t tell if it is a fight or just a friendly joust. From the park it is a relatively short ride on the highway back to Port Elizabeth, check-in to the Paxton Hotel, arrange a cab for tomorrow’s REALLY early flight departure to Kasane (Chobe, through Jo’burg), return the rental car ($400 for 6 days with tons of insurance and a one-way drop-off charge), and repack our bags for the heat to come.
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| At first THB thought there was a handicapped lift on every floor...it's just decor |
Dinner at Port Captain’s Table in the parking lot next to the hotel. THB has lamb riblets, D has kudu (yep, the same ones we just saw in Addo Elephant Park), and DB and M have kingklip with different sauces; one bottle of pinotage and one creme brulee, $84
Pop Quiz: What made the Paxton Hotel unique? It is the only place we’ve stayed in that had a wash cloth!
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those pictures are even better! incredible experience.
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