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I have been travelling in Africa for over three decades. In that time, I have been on countless safaris; by Land Rover, on foot, by canoe and horseback, up and down mountains and valleys. The sense of wonder and appreciation of natural beauty has never left me. There are of course, certain animals which I prefer above all others. Some are large, very large and some small but all, for some reason or other, have endeared themselves towards me. I will start with the very large.

The African elephant is the poster boy for safaris. Huge and gracious, gentle and ferocious. I know he causes huge devastation wherever he goes. To eat one leaf on a branch, he will knock over and crush a century old tree. And he eats a lot. On average, an adult will consume 150 kilos a day of vegetation. I have come close to these animals in the bush; sometimes steering too close and having to beat a hasty retreat. A recent invitation to Addo Elephant Back Safari Lodge near Addo National Park in the Eastern Cape was a chance to satiate my decades long desire to touch and feel one in a natural setting.

Often in nature conservancy, there are moral debates. In this case, is this experience of going to ride on the back of an elephant little more than a circus outing by animals trained as performers? These arguments can never be won with each adversary tenaciously standing their ground. All I can say and write is that it was a wonderfully satisfying experience with no evidence that the elephants were stressed or distressed or were unhappy in any way. They roamed the natural, mountainous bush setting with a couple of flyweights on their backs, eating at will. There was no saddle and the handlers were mines of information about everything you ever wanted to know about elephants. Infact, that was one of the most satisfying aspects of the visit. The evident enthusiasm and love, yes, love, for their charges. We learnt a mine of information. An elephants trunk has 50000 muscles and can hold 17 litres of water. Ears act as vast fans to cool themselves down. The exterior of their skin was a very hard leather but the underside of their ears felt as soft as silk.

It is a difficult road to reach the lodge climbing the rocky Zuurberg Pass but that also is part of Africa; it should be never too easy. On arrival in this miniature Eden it is another story. The rooms are made out of canvas and wood perched on stilts with wide decks maximising the mountainous and bush views. Every comfort is catered for with spa baths and Hemingway safari inspired decoration. The public rooms and mess areas overlook a vast watering hole or communal bath for elephants if you prefer. No, this is no hardship and that is the other side of Africa; you are here to enjoy certain romantic comforts!

Driving back down the pass, you can take a more conventional if equally appealing safari in the Addo National Park, originally designed to conserve a heavily poached elephant population but for the sheer sensual pleasure of being up close and personal to these magnificent creatures, I could not recommend this experience strongly enough.

Addo Elephant Back Safari by Nicolas Edwards

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Article source: http://www.uyaphi.com/blog/addo-elephant-back-safari/

Day 200 – 201, February 17 – 18, 2013

After checking out of the Antlers Lodge, we continued heading east on the Garden Route, periodically stopping for pictures along the way.  Our destination was the Aardvark Guest House, located 73 km north of Port Elizabeth.   We were excited about this upcoming stay as we were meeting up with friends of ours from Jacksonville.  Don, Beth, Alex, and Taylor had just moved to South Africa a few weeks ago.  Feeling called to serve as volunteers in this part of the world, they gave up their lives in Jacksonville for a radically different one in East London, South Africa, working with the people of the Mzamomhle township.  We plan to stay with the Chins for a few days in East London, but we’ve decided to meet up here at Addo and explore the reserve together.  They drove in from East London and arrived shortly after us.  We had a lot of fun sitting in the back yard of the guesthouse catching up.  In the morning we headed to our scheduled game drive in the park.  Although it is called Addo Elephant Park, they actually have many species of animals here, including the Big 5 (rhino, elephant, lion, leopard, and buffalo).

We saw a great number of animals while on the drive, but the most impressive were, indeed, the elephants.  Parked near a water hole, we watched dozens of elephants come in for a drink, bath, or playful swim.  Many of the elephants had babies and the herd was quite protective of the little ones.  Our guide pointed out a jackal near the herd who seemed to be eating the afterbirth of a recently born elephant.  The guide then spotted the newborn and drove us around off the road and behind the tree where we were able to watch this baby, probably no more than an hour old, nursing from his mother for the first time.  It was a truly awesome experience.

After the guided tour, we decided to drive our own cars through the park before hitting the road for East London.  We asked a guide if there had been any lion sightings, and he told us a location where some had been spotted early in the day.  We drove around and spotted several animals.  When we reached the location that the guide had mentioned, sure enough, there were some lions lying under a tree, very close to the road –  a proud, strong lioness and a male with a glorious mane.  What a sight!

I have been travelling in Africa for over three decades. In that time, I have been on countless safaris; by Land Rover, on foot, by canoe and horseback, up and down mountains and valleys. The sense of wonder and appreciation of natural beauty has never left me. There are of course, certain animals which I prefer above all others. Some are large, very large and some small but all, for some reason or other, have endeared themselves towards me. I will start with the very large.

The African elephant is the poster boy for safaris. Huge and gracious, gentle and ferocious. I know he causes huge devastation wherever he goes. To eat one leaf on a branch, he will knock over and crush a century old tree. And he eats a lot. On average, an adult will consume 150 kilos a day of vegetation. I have come close to these animals in the bush; sometimes steering too close and having to beat a hasty retreat. A recent invitation to Addo Elephant Back Safari Lodge near Addo National Park in the Eastern Cape was a chance to satiate my decades long desire to touch and feel one in a natural setting.

Often in nature conservancy, there are moral debates. In this case, is this experience of going to ride on the back of an elephant little more than a circus outing by animals trained as performers? These arguments can never be won with each adversary tenaciously standing their ground. All I can say and write is that it was a wonderfully satisfying experience with no evidence that the elephants were stressed or distressed or were unhappy in any way. They roamed the natural, mountainous bush setting with a couple of flyweights on their backs, eating at will. There was no saddle and the handlers were mines of information about everything you ever wanted to know about elephants. Infact, that was one of the most satisfying aspects of the visit. The evident enthusiasm and love, yes, love, for their charges. We learnt a mine of information. An elephants trunk has 50000 muscles and can hold 17 litres of water. Ears act as vast fans to cool themselves down. The exterior of their skin was a very hard leather but the underside of their ears felt as soft as silk.

It is a difficult road to reach the lodge climbing the rocky Zuurberg Pass but that also is part of Africa; it should be never too easy. On arrival in this miniature Eden it is another story. The rooms are made out of canvas and wood perched on stilts with wide decks maximising the mountainous and bush views. Every comfort is catered for with spa baths and Hemingway safari inspired decoration. The public rooms and mess areas overlook a vast watering hole or communal bath for elephants if you prefer. No, this is no hardship and that is the other side of Africa; you are here to enjoy certain romantic comforts!

Driving back down the pass, you can take a more conventional if equally appealing safari in the Addo National Park, originally designed to conserve a heavily poached elephant population but for the sheer sensual pleasure of being up close and personal to these magnificent creatures, I could not recommend this experience strongly enough.

Addo Elephant Back Safari by Nicolas Edwards

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I absolutely love Addo Elephant Park – one of the best places in South Africa to see beautiful elephants. Sometimes you have to be patient, but believe me it is worth a trip to this amazing park. Travis Caulfield

Article source: http://traviscaulfield2.wordpress.com/2013/05/15/addo-elephant-park-travis-caulfield/

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Video footage of an inebriated tourist lunging out of his car and charging a wild elephant at South Africa’s famous Kruger National Park caused an uproar on Monday.

The footage, posted on wildlife site Latest Sightings (www.latestsightings.com), showed the unidentified man charging towards the startled animal.

With friends cheering and encouraging him, the man runs towards the elephant, falls to the ground but gets up again and bolts in the direction of the animal.

“Run at him right now, run,” a voice of a fellow tourist is heard over the footage, which appeared to have been filmed by his colleagues.

The elephant initially swings its trunk towards the man, but soon makes its escape.

The man returns to his cheering friends.

Latest Sightings said on its Facebook page that it received the video at the weekend but it was unclear when the incident occurred.

Wild animals in the two-million-hectare park sometimes attack visitors and elephants have been known to overturn the cars of sightseers.

The park’s officials were not immediately reachable for comment, although wildlife advocates called for charges to be levelled against the tourist.

Copyright (2013) AFP. All rights reserved.

This article was distributed through the NewsCred Smartwire.
Original article © Agence France Presse 2013

I absolutely love Addo Elephant Park – one of the best places in South Africa to see beautiful elephants. Sometimes you have to be patient, but believe me it is worth a trip to this amazing park. Travis Caulfield

We have said it before, and no doubt we will say it again, but one of the things which makes our Guides job such a pleasure is when the younger generation come and stay at River Bend with their parents….and bring with them their unbridled and boundless enthusiasm.

We experienced this again last week when the Hamiltons, from Franschhoek in the Western Cape came to stay. Nick and Anna Hamilton brought along their 3 boys, Jamie, Sam and Luc. Mikey Mouton, their Guide was amazed at their enthusiastic participation and interest in all he had to show them. Perhaps I am a little biased but I was also blown away by the passion of 11 year old Jamie’s for Photography.

The boys returned excitedly from each drive with a list of animals that they saw, and Jamie has very kindly allowed me to share some of the Photographs he took whilst out on Drive…and one in the Lodge garden!

Warthog, Lions, Elephants, Kudu, Ostrich, Waterbuck, Red Hartebeest, Zebra, Duiker, Baboons, Vervet Monkeys, Scrub Hare, Giraffe, Buffalo, Caracal, Porcupine, Spotted Genet et al

Article source: http://riverbendaddo.blogspot.com/2013/05/some-more-of-what-we-love-at-river-bend.html

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Today we visited the Addo National park which is full of wonderful animals in their natural habitat. We saw about 100 elephants in all! A really fun day out. This trip is included in the price of our Jeffrey’s Bay surfing holiday. Article source: http://globalsurfadventures.co.uk/2013/05/amazing-addo-elephant-park/ Article source: http://www.myaddo.co.za/amazing-addo-elephant-park/

Port Elizabeth Budget Accommodation

Go to:My Addo

We have said it before, and no doubt we will say it again, but one of the things which makes our Guides job such a pleasure is when the younger generation come and stay at River Bend with their parents….and bring with them their unbridled and boundless enthusiasm.

We experienced this again last week when the Hamiltons, from Franschhoek in the Western Cape came to stay. Nick and Anna Hamilton brought along their 3 boys, Jamie, Sam and Luc. Mikey Mouton, their Guide was amazed at their enthusiastic participation and interest in all he had to show them. Perhaps I am a little biased but I was also blown away by the passion of 11 year old Jamie’s for Photography.

The boys returned excitedly from each drive with a list of animals that they saw, and Jamie has very kindly allowed me to share some of the Photographs he took whilst out on Drive…and one in the Lodge garden!

Warthog, Lions, Elephants, Kudu, Ostrich, Waterbuck, Red Hartebeest, Zebra, Duiker, Baboons, Vervet Monkeys, Scrub Hare, Giraffe, Buffalo, Caracal, Porcupine, Spotted Genet et al

The sky shone with a crisp dawn as we made our way out of camp at 6am. We were heading south, to a watering hole where we’d seen a lioness sleeping the day before. When we got there, sadly there were no lions in sight. Instead there was something even more special: A small herd of elephant with a tiny calf in their midst. It couldn’t have been very old, as it was still a little wobbly and playfully discombobulated in its movements.

At first the herd eye’d us wearily and ushered the little one into their midst. The mother drank quietly glancing at us occasionally, while the two older babysitters stood guard. We kept our distance and parked the car on the side of the road, switching off the engine. This was too good a sighting to move on, and as we were the only vehicle, there was no reason not to sit back and enjoy.

Eventually the baby elephant wriggled out from the centre and the rest of the herd relaxed at our presence. What followed next was a wonderful insight into how these majestic pachyderms operate as a family unit. The older elephants raised their trunks and the calf mimicked as if playing a game of Simon says. It was almost as though the calf was discovering its trunk for the first time. In no time it was madly flinging it’s trunk around in circles as if to say: “Wheeee! Let’s see what this thing can do!” I could imagine the teenage elephants rolling their eyes “Kids!!” Yet they patiently played along.  Perhaps they too remembered what it was like to be discovering new things for the first time.

Seemingly bored of the game the calf moved back to its mother where it watched and then perfectly copied bringing up slurpfull’s of water to its mouth.  It was incredible to watch the lessons being patiently taught by the elders. The matriarch then moved off and in perfect obedience the baby elephant calf and rest of the herd followed. We were sad to see them go, but what a magical start to the day.

Article source: http://www.firecloudadventures.com/2013/01/addo-elephant-dawn-sighting/

The sky shone with a crisp dawn as we made our way out of camp at 6am. We were heading south, to a watering hole where we’d seen a lioness sleeping the day before. When we got there, sadly there were no lions in sight. Instead there was something even more special: A small herd of elephant with a tiny calf in their midst. It couldn’t have been very old, as it was still a little wobbly and playfully discombobulated in its movements.

At first the herd eye’d us wearily and ushered the little one into their midst. The mother drank quietly glancing at us occasionally, while the two older babysitters stood guard. We kept our distance and parked the car on the side of the road, switching off the engine. This was too good a sighting to move on, and as we were the only vehicle, there was no reason not to sit back and enjoy.

Eventually the baby elephant wriggled out from the centre and the rest of the herd relaxed at our presence. What followed next was a wonderful insight into how these majestic pachyderms operate as a family unit. The older elephants raised their trunks and the calf mimicked as if playing a game of Simon says. It was almost as though the calf was discovering its trunk for the first time. In no time it was madly flinging it’s trunk around in circles as if to say: “Wheeee! Let’s see what this thing can do!” I could imagine the teenage elephants rolling their eyes “Kids!!” Yet they patiently played along.  Perhaps they too remembered what it was like to be discovering new things for the first time.

Seemingly bored of the game the calf moved back to its mother where it watched and then perfectly copied bringing up slurpfull’s of water to its mouth.  It was incredible to watch the lessons being patiently taught by the elders. The matriarch then moved off and in perfect obedience the baby elephant calf and rest of the herd followed. We were sad to see them go, but what a magical start to the day.

We were in Addo about a month back and we loved it! The only disappointing part was that we didn’t stay in the actual park… because we booked too late and the elephant park is that popular that you have to book way in advance to get a spot… so we lucked out, BUT we did stay in the lovely Avoca River Cabins and enjoyed every minute of it.

We drove up to the Addo Elephant park early one morning (20 min from our guesthouse) and spent hours driving around looking at all the amazing wildlife, It was quite something actually.

Check out who crossed our path along the way….

We will be going back, and it will be soon and we will stay in the Addo Elephant Park… in a cabin that overlooks the watering hole

See you again soon Addo
xxx

Addo, about half an hours drive from Port Elizabeth (in South Africa’s Eastern Cape), is a spectacular place to spend a few days.  We chose to stay in the main camp, which has different self-catering units and provided everything we could need.  There was even a bit of peaceful buffalo snoring at night to remind us exactly where we were.  There is super game viewing, beautiful scenery and, if you get up early enough, the opportunity to find wonderful secluded spots.  The relatively basic self-catering option is a great alternative to the more expensive private reserves of the area. 

 

Today we visited the Addo National park which is full of wonderful animals in their natural habitat. We saw about 100 elephants in all! A really fun day out. This trip is included in the price of our Jeffrey’s Bay surfing holiday.

Article source: http://globalsurfadventures.co.uk/2013/05/amazing-addo-elephant-park/

Azonic, on 07 May 2013 – 03:23 , said:

Won’t be going to that side of Addo. More on the Kirkwood/Janselville side.

More marathon style racing.

OK. So it will be your standard “kerk bazaar” gravel road race. Nice training for Transbaviaans guys.

Good marathons have singletrack as well, at least 30%.

Edited by Brian Fantana, Yesterday, 15:55.

Today we visited the Addo National park which is full of wonderful animals in their natural habitat. We saw about 100 elephants in all! A really fun day out. This trip is included in the price of our Jeffrey’s Bay surfing holiday.

Our second game viewing trip, this time from Port Elizabeth to Addo Elephant Park, which came highly recommended by Annie and Ann. And we weren’t disappointed. Unlike Tala, this is a government reserve, so they have strict rules about not importing any animals that aren’t native to this exact habitat, and they don’t allow even 4x4s to drive off road except on designated paths, so we were warned it might be difficult to get close to any wildlife. Plus it’s an area of 200,000 hectares, so plenty of room to hide!

But we were lucky and after about an hour driving around, we came across a solitary elephant, probably thrown out of the herd by the matriarch for bad behaviour, according to the ranger, flanked by a couple of ostriches. There are 500 elephants in the park, as well as various antelope, black rhino, red hartebeests and even 9 lions. We weren’t expecting to see those as they hide somewhere cool in the day, but we did go on to see a small herd of elephants, a mother and her calf, and 3 males, that came right up to the jeep and even blocked our way along the road for a while. So plenty of photo opportunities!

 

Addo elephants are a sub-species of African elephant, slightly smaller (tho still pretty huge!) and with a reddish brown hide. We felt very safe in our 4×4 but there were a few visitors in small cars who must have felt quite vulnerable when the big bull was passing close by. He looked ready for anything.

So we’ve now seen 3 of the Big Five – rhino, elephants, buffalo, but no lion or leopard. So we’ll have to make another trip!

Not much else to say about Port Elizabeth as we only saw it from the coach, but we did pass a township, the most recently constructed part of which looks ok – brick built by the government – but as you move further to the outskirts you see the ad hoc homes built out of whatever comes to hand – tin sheets, tyres, cardboard. And no facilities or sanitation. But it’s much worse outside bigger cities, especially Johannesburg, and no government building can keep pace with the migration into South Africa. What’s the answer??

Township

 

Article source: http://carolandsamgetaway.wordpress.com/2013/04/16/april-8th-addo-elephant-park/

Our second game viewing trip, this time from Port Elizabeth to Addo Elephant Park, which came highly recommended by Annie and Ann. And we weren’t disappointed. Unlike Tala, this is a government reserve, so they have strict rules about not importing any animals that aren’t native to this exact habitat, and they don’t allow even 4x4s to drive off road except on designated paths, so we were warned it might be difficult to get close to any wildlife. Plus it’s an area of 200,000 hectares, so plenty of room to hide!

But we were lucky and after about an hour driving around, we came across a solitary elephant, probably thrown out of the herd by the matriarch for bad behaviour, according to the ranger, flanked by a couple of ostriches. There are 500 elephants in the park, as well as various antelope, black rhino, red hartebeests and even 9 lions. We weren’t expecting to see those as they hide somewhere cool in the day, but we did go on to see a small herd of elephants, a mother and her calf, and 3 males, that came right up to the jeep and even blocked our way along the road for a while. So plenty of photo opportunities!

 

Addo elephants are a sub-species of African elephant, slightly smaller (tho still pretty huge!) and with a reddish brown hide. We felt very safe in our 4×4 but there were a few visitors in small cars who must have felt quite vulnerable when the big bull was passing close by. He looked ready for anything.

So we’ve now seen 3 of the Big Five – rhino, elephants, buffalo, but no lion or leopard. So we’ll have to make another trip!

Not much else to say about Port Elizabeth as we only saw it from the coach, but we did pass a township, the most recently constructed part of which looks ok – brick built by the government – but as you move further to the outskirts you see the ad hoc homes built out of whatever comes to hand – tin sheets, tyres, cardboard. And no facilities or sanitation. But it’s much worse outside bigger cities, especially Johannesburg, and no government building can keep pace with the migration into South Africa. What’s the answer??

Township

 

On our Blog yesterday I wrote about the behaviour of part of the Elephant herd on Monday evening, and what we thought the reason for this behaviour was. I am pleased to say we guessed correctly. This is a short account of some time spent with some of the herd this afternoon.

At around 2 pm I noticed a herd of Buffalo wandering across an open area near the Lodge and, sensing a photo opportunity, I rushed out. Whilst watching the Buffalo I also noticed a small family group of about 15 Elephants on the plain to the west of the Lodge. There had to be a reason that this group was not with the main herd! Could it be that Monday’s newborn calf still needed to be on less strenuous terrain……? I hoped ….maybe fortune would smile on me and I would get a clear shot of the calf where the grass was short enough and there weren’t too many of the family group around. I’ve tried this before….many times, never with much success. The newborns are always sandwiched between the mother and one of her older calves.

Driving very slowly, I rounded a bend….and this was my first sighting!

Article source: http://riverbendaddo.blogspot.com/2013/04/what-fuss-was-all-about-newborn.html