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2 nights were spent at Jeffrey’s Bay, a little surfer town by the coast. Sadly, it was raining for majority of our first day so we didn’t do much apart from wander down the beach and get drenched. We did stretch our creative minds by playing a game called “utensils”, invented by the lovely Susie, where you have to mime out a kitchen utensil. Lots of fun, especially after a round of ring of fire and a few games of mushroom.

The 2nd day of our visit produced slightly nicer weather, so we explored the town and wandered along the beach watching the surfers. In the afternoon some dolphins were spotted just off the coast, playing in the waves. Sadly they had left by the time we got there.

Addo elephant park is the final the final game drive in my African adventure, but we still spotted a few new sights, such as the yellow tailed mongoose, meerkats, a really cool owl, and a tortoise. The highlight was probably the largest herd of elephants at a water hole – easily 40+.

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Footage of the herd shows the distressed youngster crying out as the adult elephant reaches down with her trunk to pull and push it onto dry land.

Richard Leonard shot the video while at Addo Elephant Park on a family holiday earlier this month, The Telegraph reported.

“It was my first game drive of the trip and it was a wildlife encounter of a lifetime,” he said.

“I was so relieved to see the little one safe and sound.”

Source: The Telegraph

Author: Alexandra Pleffer, Approving editor: Matthew Henry

Do you have any story leads, photos or videos?

Footage of the herd shows the distressed youngster crying out as the adult elephant reaches down with her trunk to pull and push it onto dry land.

Richard Leonard shot the video while at Addo Elephant Park on a family holiday earlier this month, The Telegraph reported.

“It was my first game drive of the trip and it was a wildlife encounter of a lifetime,” he said.

“I was so relieved to see the little one safe and sound.”

Source: The Telegraph

Author: Alexandra Pleffer, Approving editor: Matthew Henry

Do you have any story leads, photos or videos?

General Information:

Located East along the coast from Port Elizabeth on the Eastern Cape, Addo Elephant National Park is a great park for family vacations and learning about conservation set on the backdrop of the undulating African bushveld.  With the Eastern Cape elephant nearly wiped out at the beginning of the 20^th Century, this park was founded, allowing the elephant population to bounce back – they now have 450 elephants roaming freely in the park living alongside Black Rhino, Zebra and many antelope species like Eland, Red Hartebeest and Kudu.

Highlights:

• Third largest National Park in South Africa
• The largest coastal dune field in the Southern hemisphere
• One of the densest population of African elephants
• Home to the flightless dung beetle
• Regular sightings of the endangered Black Rhino
• 5 of the 7 South African biomes in one National Park
• Easily accessible in less that 1 hour from Port Elizabeth
• Watching Elephants from poolside at the main lodge

Map of Addo Elephant National Park:

On the odd occasion that we have had to tell Guests that there is a water crises, and that it was caused by the Elephants, we are not too sure that we are believed!!

Here is the evidence…on a lovely warm winter’s day this young fellow found his idea of how to cool down…….that is, before Darlington came and spoiled his fun!

Article source: http://riverbendaddo.blogspot.com/2013/08/caught-in-act.html

General Information:

Located East along the coast from Port Elizabeth on the Eastern Cape, Addo Elephant National Park is a great park for family vacations and learning about conservation set on the backdrop of the undulating African bushveld.  With the Eastern Cape elephant nearly wiped out at the beginning of the 20^th Century, this park was founded, allowing the elephant population to bounce back – they now have 450 elephants roaming freely in the park living alongside Black Rhino, Zebra and many antelope species like Eland, Red Hartebeest and Kudu.

Highlights:

• Third largest National Park in South Africa
• The largest coastal dune field in the Southern hemisphere
• One of the densest population of African elephants
• Home to the flightless dung beetle
• Regular sightings of the endangered Black Rhino
• 5 of the 7 South African biomes in one National Park
• Easily accessible in less that 1 hour from Port Elizabeth
• Watching Elephants from poolside at the main lodge

Map of Addo Elephant National Park:

Image by Isak Pretorius

We asked you to show your support for World Elephant Day by sharing your best ellie pics in the Wonder of Elephants Photo Competition to win a safari adventure for two to Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe with Wilderness Safaris. The response was overwhelming! We received almost 600 photo entries in less than two weeks.

The images below have made it into the final phase of the competition.

 

 

Here’s how it works

The selection of photographs below are the finalists.

These will be evaluated by a judging panel that will consist of three parties: Getaway Magazine Editor, Cameron Ewart-Smith, RamsayMedia Creative Director, Brandon de Kock and you, the public (by casting your votes here).

Simply pick your 3 top images and cast your vote! (Click on the image to see the full size version)

At 12:00pm on Friday 09 August 2013 the public voting phase will close.

Thereafter, the judging panel will rank their top images independently and a winner will be selected based on a combination of their two votes and the public votes.

Keep in mind that judging of photographs by the judges (and you) should be determined by a combination of the following factors: technical, creative and overall impact.

You will only be allowed to vote once. So make your selection count!

 

 

The prize

The winning image will take its photographer on a four-night luxury safari adventure in Hwange, Zimbabwe with Wilderness Safaris. Prize includes flights, two nights accommodation at Wilderness Safari’s Davison’s Camp and two nights at Little Makalolo Camp as well as all meals, park fees, scheduled camp activities and return transfers (by road) to and from the camps.

The winner will be announced on World Elephant Day, Monday 12 August, on the Getaway website and on its social media channels as well as being showcased at the Conservation Action Trust Wonder of Elephants photo exhibition at Moyo in Kirstenbosch, Cape Town at 18h00 that evening.

a href=”http://polldaddy.com/poll/7299209/”The Wonder of Elephants Photo Competition – finalists/a

Terms and Conditions

Visit http://competitions.getaway.co.za/wonder-of-elephants-terms-conditions/ for a full list of Terms and Conditions.

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Tags: The Wonder of Elephants Photo Competition, WED, World Elephant Day

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60 Responses to “The Wonder of Elephants Photo Competition finalists”

1. Tough choice – some very beautiful shots!

2. I have just been inspired to collect elephant photographs…these photographs are all outstanding and I am very pleased that I am not the one to make a final decision Wow!
   .

3. Lovely Picture!!!

4. All those photos are fantastic. Love elephants.

5. Very good all round pic. Something of everything

6. no comment

7. Fabulous photos

8. Great photography

9. Amazing shot – this gentle giant stretching on its hind legs to reach the leaves high in the tree.

10. WHAT AN AMAZING PICTURE.JUST SHOWS YOU THE DETERMINATION OF AN ELEPHANT TO GET WHAT THEY WANT.BEAUTIFUL,WHAT A RARE SIGHTING||!!!!

11. Beautiful photos. Difficult to choose

12. Amazing photographs!

13. Difficult to choose!!

14. I am passionate about elephants and everyone seems to have captured the different moods of these beautiful animals. Well done.

15. As a physio I am delighted to see that even elephants stretch!

16. Excellent pictures! Well done.

17. Love the Ellie hugs

18. Surely one of the most photogenic species in Africa!

19. Not an easy choice – each photo has its own beauty!

20. gorgeous Ellies each and every one!

21. Love your pic Maureen of Ellie pretending to be an ostrich!!

22. amazing photography

23. beautiful…..all of them…..

24. Amazing photo’s. What a wonderful part of the world we live in with such majestic creatures. Very difficult choice.

25. The Judges didn’t make it easy to whittle down to just 3 pictures! Look forward to seeing who the top 3 are.

26. I can’t vote – how do you choose one of these as the winning shot? They are all beautiful and so good!
    Would love to look at all the entries.

27. All these photographs are absolutely amazing. Having to choose my top 3 was very very difficult. Congratulations to all the finalist. The photos are absolutely 1000% beautiful, capturing the essence of the elephant, the light, the feel and emotion. well done all

28. Janine Malan #1 !!!

29. Maws. By far……… the bestest!!

30. Maws. What can I say. Yours is the bestest!!

31. Janine Malan – really nice sunset pic, beautiful colours!

32. It is just difficult to pick outstanding ellies; all the photos are stunning!

33. Amazing pix! An inspiration to protect them for many generations to see.

34. These are really beautiful images.

35. Love all the photos, Janine Malan’s was absolutely stunning……

36. Wow! Awesome! It inspires me so much!! Thanks for hosting this amazing competition.

37. Wow Luke Johnsons photo of the herd drinking from smallest to largest is awesome. How lucky to catch them in this order. Brilliant.

    • mmm exactly

38. Awesome elephant pics, they are very special!!

39. A hard call ! there all exceptional

40. All these shots are winners in their own special way……
    Love the warmth of the light in the sunset shots!
    Thank you for the opportunity to participate.

41. Fantastic photography

42. All amazing…..especially the one taken by Luke Johnson…beautiful lines..

43. Such beautiful pictures, makes it very difficult to just choose 3!!

44. All beautiful and capture the spirit and essence of these majestic animals so perfectly. It wasn’t easy choosing only 3, yet some do stand out.

45. Nice playful elephants, really goodshoot!

46. Maureen Such a cutie!

47. Stunning photo Mau xxxxxx

48. Such amazing animals, loved the photos!

49. They are all very good photographs, as it is very difficult to photograph animals and make them look ‘interesting’

50. Stunning photos, difficult to choose.

51. Loved the pics

52. All WINNER Pics! May the Best man or woman WIN Good Luck All

53. Stunning photo’s, such majestic animals but yet the photographers have captured the calmness in them. Awesome Well Done to all of you.

54. Lovely pic Maureen of Ellie pretending to be an ostrich!

55. What an African Elephant calendar these pics would make. Such talented photographers out there, well done all of you. Tough choice too pick just one.

56. All brilliant photo’s. Wish I had known about this competition as I love ellies and always take numerous snaps of them. Good luck to all the entrants.

57. Truly a tough choice. Enjoyed each and every shot.

58. One of God’s beautiful creatures – my favorite animal, they are all such great shots – well done to them all, how do you pick a winner – they all deserve it !!!

On the odd occasion that we have had to tell Guests that there is a water crises, and that it was caused by the Elephants, we are not too sure that we are believed!!

Here is the evidence…on a lovely warm winter’s day this young fellow found his idea of how to cool down…….that is, before Darlington came and spoiled his fun!

All the photographs and articles on this site are the property of Jonker Fourie, unless otherwise stated, and may not be used, copied, transmitted, or stored without my permission.

© All Rights Reserved by Jonker Fourie and/or FireflyAfrica so please ask before using it.

E-mail: fireflyafrica@telkomsa.net

Smoke bombs dropped from an overhead plane, flares shot into the air, gunshots ringing out, a high speed car chase and numerous arrests were the order of the day in Addo Elephant National Park (AENP) this week – but only as part of a simulated poaching exercise on World Ranger Day.

The day is celebrated annually, to remember the rangers who were killed or injured in the line of duty and to celebrate and acknowledge the work being done by both the men and women in green. On a daily basis, the world’s rangers put their lives in danger to protect the world’s heritage, and with the current onslaught of rhino poaching in South Africa, these rangers are the last barrier between a rhino and a poacher.

Since the start of 2013, a total of 536 rhino have been killed for their horns, with the Kruger National Park remaining at the forefront of the onslaught.  A total of 334 rhino have been poached in the Kruger National Park in the past seven months.

Today, AENP’s Management, Staff and Honorary Rangers came together to celebrate the occasion with the Park’s 75 member strong ranger contingent – those responsible for the Park not having suffered one case of poaching as yet.

Speaking at the event, Regional Ranger, John Adendorff, honoured the rangers on the work they do. “Over the past ten years, over one thousand rangers have lost their lives in the line of duty all over the world. Even though the threats increase daily, we’re here because we have a passion for what we do and we believe in this worthy cause – protecting our environment for our children and the generations to follow,” he said.

He went further, commending all his colleagues from other departments who had also gathered. “While we’re in the frontline, doing the actual anti-poaching and law enforcement, those of you behind the scenes who make our work possible are rangers in every sense of the word, too. You make us the success that we are, and I thank you,” said Adendorff.

Rangers moving in on a target during a simulated poaching incident. Photographer: Johan Zwiegers

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An extremely rare and endangered Black – Footed Cat!!!! One of our Guides Mikey Mouton had the most incredible experience last week…and here is his Blog on this amazing encounter. “On the cold winter evening of Wednesday the 23th of July at 18h15,  I had the great pleasure of seeing one of Africa’s rarest inhabitants, […]

Port Elizabeth Budget Accommodation

Go to:My Addo

Playing sports with 100+ children? Really? Some of us definitely felt a bit intimidated by this project visit prospect. Thankfully, as Roger stepped up to bat on the make-shift cricket pitch, Lettie and Lisa were tasked with much less strenuous activities – colouring and reading stories!

 
© 2013 Lettie Irving Wildlife Photography

Wednesday is ‘sports day’ at Isipho Multipurpose Centre; on other weekdays the kids get stuck in with various other educational and recreational after school activities. About 75 children are at Ishipho’s crèche from 8 ’til 4 every day of the week, and we managed to catch one of the two classes mid-nap. We distracted the other class – and gave the teacher a bit of a break – by showing the children photos of themselves.

© 2013 Lisa Scriven | levelle perspectives

The week before our visit, permaculture training had taken place at Isipho’s gardens, so they were busy doing a bit of an overhaul when we were there. Food grown in the garden is supplemented by fresh eggs from the chickens in the adjacent coop, and both provide a hearty meal to the kids who attend the crèche.

© 2013 Lisa Scriven | levelle perspectives

As we were about to climb in the Landy, we realised that the kids and staff at Isipho were assembling to say good-bye. Spirited singing and dancing erupted and kept us entertained for at least another ½ hour – our best farewell yet. Thank you to everyone at the Isipho Multipurpose Centre!

© 2013 Lisa Scriven | levelle perspectives

This photo blog was prepared in support of The EXPEDITION Project 2013.

An extremely rare and endangered Black – Footed Cat!!!!

One of our Guides Mikey Mouton had the most incredible experience last week…and here is his Blog on this amazing encounter.

“On the cold winter evening of Wednesday the
23^th of July at 18h15,  I had
the great pleasure of seeing one of Africa’s rarest inhabitants, the
Black-footed cat, also known as the small spotted cat (Felis nigripes).

What made this sighting more special is the
fact that the animal was very relaxed with my vehicle and that we were able to
watch the animal for half an hour.  During
this time I was able to take nearly 100 photographs, which is vital to prove to
the other rangers that it wasn’t just a prank!

Interestingly Addo Elephant National Park
is on the fringes of this animal’s natural habitat, and therefore very few
sightings have been recorded in the parks history.

After watching the cat groom itself for
what seemed like an eternity (typical cat behaviour!) my guests and I were even
lucky enough to see the animal in action, stalking a Scrub Hare (Lepus saxatilis).

Unfortunately, or fortunately (depending on
which way you look at it) the hare got away. 
After this bit of activity, the cat moved onto the road, where it was
briefly interested in its own shadow. 
More grooming commenced, and it was off into the grasslands on the next
hunt.

After calming myself down for a few
seconds, we gradually made our way back to the lodge under the beautiful
African night sky, everyone quietly reflecting on the awesome experience.

Black-footed cat (Felis nigripes)

Smallest of the Southern African cat
species, its natural habitat is dry, open grassland and scrub with 100-500mm
rain annually.  It’s diet includes;
rodents, shrews, hares, rabbits, birds, elephant shrews, invertebrates,
reptiles and birds’ eggs, an unusual item for a cat.  The hare is a large prey for such a small
predator.

The cat is solitary and nocturnal, and
shelters during the day in disused springhare burrows, under rock slabs or in
holes in termite mounds, from which it gets its Afrikaans name ‘miershooptier’
(ant-hill tiger).

The Black-footed cat is listed on the Red
Data Book as rare.

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Source:                                    
Smithers’  Mammals of Southern Africa”

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Addo Elephant Park, South Africa. What a fantastic day! I wasn’t sure I’d enjoy the classic African Game Park tour — but I loved it. Rick lions. lions. Addo Elephant National Park is a diverse wildlife conservation park situated …

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Two nights free accommodation and free airport pick up with any safari booked three days or more click here

Article source: http://www.mufasabackpackers.com/addo-elephant-park-south-africa-rickmccharles-com-mufasa/

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Addo Elephant Park, South Africa. What a fantastic day! I wasn’t sure I’d enjoy the classic African Game Park tour — but I loved it. Rick lions. lions. Addo Elephant National Park is a diverse wildlife conservation park situated …

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Two nights free accommodation and free airport pick up with any safari booked three days or more click here

Nestled past the picturesque Garden Route, about 5.5 hours east of Oudtshoorn and just an hour north of Port Elizabeth, is the Addo Elephant National Park.   Spread over about 450,000 acres, this national park is a true goldmine.   In addition to being home to one of the biggest herds of captive elephants (about 550), it is also home to ostriches, zebras, mongoose, jackals, elands, tortoises, flightless dung beetles, warthogs, lions, kudus, all types of birds and more.  Some of my favorites were the kudus with their spiral horns…

The sleeping lions…

Grazing zebras…

and the rare flightless dung beetles crossing the road with, you guessed it, big balls of dung.

I recommend going early.  It’s eerily quiet at 7am, with hardly another car on the winding roads through the park, and seeing animals with no one else around makes you feel like you are spying these majestic creatures truly in the wild.  There’s so much to see that the park will be closing before you know it.  Make sure you pack a lunch!

Cost: About US$16 per person for self-drive game viewing (I had a rental car).  You can find out more information about prices and the park generally on the official website here.  Highly recommended.

Article source: http://www.ahatofsky.com/?p=895

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Playing sports with 100+ children? Really? Some of us definitely felt a bit intimidated by this project visit prospect. Thankfully, as Roger stepped up to bat on the make-shift cricket pitch, Lettie and Lisa were tasked with much less strenuous activities – colouring and reading stories!   © 2013 Lettie Irving Wildlife Photography Wednesday is […]

Port Elizabeth Budget Accommodation

Go to:My Addo

Yesterday I drove down to Port Elizabeth to collect Kate at the airport with the thought of an afternoon game drive through Addo Elephant Park on the way home to Grahamstown.  We have a SA National Parks Wild Card subscription which gives you free entry for a year and so it’s a real incentive to get into a park if you are near one.

We drove into the southern section of the park from the N2 through the Mathyolweni Gate and exited halfway up the Park near Nanaga.  There’s was plenty to see in the late afternoon light.  We got really close to some very relaxed elephants, saw lots of buffalo, many, many warthogs and then came across a very sleepy lioness.

The beauty of owning a Pentax is that all of your old lenses will work even on the newest body.  Yesterday’s pictures were taken using my old manual Tokina SD 70-210.  It was a real pleasure to work with it again and for my fingers to rekindle their memories.

Article source: http://roddyfox.wordpress.com/2013/07/20/addo-elephant-park-two-eyes-a-tusk-and-a-yawning-lion/

Nestled past the picturesque Garden Route, about 5.5 hours east of Oudtshoorn and just an hour north of Port Elizabeth, is the Addo Elephant National Park.   Spread over about 450,000 acres, this national park is a true goldmine.   In addition to being home to one of the biggest herds of captive elephants (about 550), it is also home to ostriches, zebras, mongoose, jackals, elands, tortoises, flightless dung beetles, warthogs, lions, kudus, all types of birds and more.  Some of my favorites were the kudus with their spiral horns…

The sleeping lions…

Grazing zebras…

and the rare flightless dung beetles crossing the road with, you guessed it, big balls of dung.

I recommend going early.  It’s eerily quiet at 7am, with hardly another car on the winding roads through the park, and seeing animals with no one else around makes you feel like you are spying these majestic creatures truly in the wild.  There’s so much to see that the park will be closing before you know it.  Make sure you pack a lunch!

Cost: About US$16 per person for self-drive game viewing (I had a rental car).  You can find out more information about prices and the park generally on the official website here.  Highly recommended.

Yesterday I drove down to Port Elizabeth to collect Kate at the airport with the thought of an afternoon game drive through Addo Elephant Park on the way home to Grahamstown.  We have a SA National Parks Wild Card subscription which gives you free entry for a year and so it’s a real incentive to get into a park if you are near one.

We drove into the southern section of the park from the N2 through the Mathyolweni Gate and exited halfway up the Park near Nanaga.  There’s was plenty to see in the late afternoon light.  We got really close to some very relaxed elephants, saw lots of buffalo, many, many warthogs and then came across a very sleepy lioness.

The beauty of owning a Pentax is that all of your old lenses will work even on the newest body.  Yesterday’s pictures were taken using my old manual Tokina SD 70-210.  It was a real pleasure to work with it again and for my fingers to rekindle their memories.