South Africa 2023

Thursday2November

And hop, waking up like yellow mongooses! Well almost...   Today, we must reach our next stop in Port Elizabeth where we will book an Airbnb just for the night. The city is only 45 minutes from the southern exit of the park, so that leaves us largely a big part of the day to look again for animals that we might have missed, like the lion for example, but it's going to be difficult, there are only about twenty here. As for the leopard, don't mention it, it's much too shy to show itself. 

A female ostrich. Ostriches with black and white feathers are males.

A birth has just happened! It's a little hartebeest that just arrived! Let's hope a ferocious feline doesn't appear that would surely make a mouthful of it...

Here is a zebra hairier than its congeners.  

A sweet thorn (Vachellia karroo) and its long thorns.

The Spekboom Tented Camp, five tents are available there to be even more immersed in the savannah... We will just take advantage of the openwork panels to spy on the elephants that come to drink here.

A small angulate tortoise (Chersina angulata) also came to spy on its friend the elephant.  

She also takes the opportunity to eat some greens...

Back to the same place as yesterday for lunch but in another location.

A weaver bird "apartment building" nest.  

Ho! One of the big five! The buffalo! Originally, this expression designated the five African animals considered the most difficult and dangerous to hunt on foot in the 19th and early 20th century. Here are the five big five: the lion, the elephant, the leopard, the black rhinoceros and the buffalo.

It is more precisely a Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer caffer).

A pied crow (Corvus albus).

A swarm of butterflies Belenois gidica taking advantage of the nutrients of an elephant dung and the surrounding humidity...  

And here is another buffalo. There are about 400 in the park.

Ha, here is one that is far from the big five... The yellow mongoose.

She gets closer to us. In each group, often a family clan, a sentinel is designated to signal land or air threats.

And this one does not joke with family safety!  

Others, also on their hind legs, seem much more interested in the flowers or seeds they can ingest.

The vervet monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus)

And there you go, it is on these images of vervets that we leave Addo Park. We will be able to reach the next stopover town, Port Elizabeth, located on the coast.

Our Airbnb, Terry's apartment that she leaves entirely at our disposal.

We selected the apartment because it is equipped with a washing machine and a dryer, and it is high time for us to do a big laundry! It's been twelve days since we started our road trip!

Friday3November

We are right next to Kings Beach and therefore facing the Indian Ocean!

The city was founded in 1819 by British immigrants.

The Boardwalk Hotel Casino.

After this fresh little walk, we will be able to hit the road again. From now on and for the next ten days, we will follow the coast to Cape Town where we will end the trip. First stop: Tsitsikamma Natural Park!