The Early Bird Catches The Worm

[PJL]

It had been far too long since we last camped at Addo, so with the school holidays in full swing we decided to spend a couple of nights up at the main camp. Once we were all packed and ready we hit the road for the short drive to the south gate and were there by 8:30 in the morning. It was already getting very warm and the forecast was for high 30s later in the day so I was keen to get to the main camp as early as possible to pitch the tent before the hottest part of the day. As a result we didn't venture on many loops on the way up - just Vukani at the start where we came across a couple of buffalo bulls



At Peasland waterhole there were a number of zebra milling around including this fluffy youngster



Some zebra conference seemed to be underway as well...



Further along the southern access road there was plenty of general game milling around, whilst a couple of eland had decided it was too hot to stand



Dropping over to Wayne's Valley there was a bit of traffic coming the other direction



Addo is such a great place for close elephant encounters



We were surprised by the number of tortoises we saw crossing the road - mainly angulate tortoises like this one



We pulled in to Hapoor and enjoyed watching the mass of elephants enjoying the water



This heavyweight seemed to be trying to drown his friend



Eventually he relented and went back to some snorkelling



Something that seems to be built-in to the minds of little elephants is that they have to chase any warthog they see



The charge continued despite the warthog having already made its escape...





TBC

[Flutterby]

Great sightings and that is the cutest little ellie!!

[Richprins]

What is your version of "hot" again, Peej?

How did the get the buffalo to get such big horns, did they bring lowveld ones in?

Great shots as always...a pleasure!

[Mel]

Yay, yay, yay! Another tale from Addo

Although you have me confused about the school holidays... I thought they have started just now?
When did you go camping?

Addo is such a great place for close elephant encounters

I couldn't agree more! And they are beautiful specimens as well

[Pumbaa]

That Little ellie is gorgeous, PJL,

and also love your zebras and great that you saw elands

[PJL]

Great sightings and that is the cutest little ellie!!

Thanks Flutts
We had a lot of great ellie sightings this trip - particularly the youngsters

What is your version of "hot" again, Peej?

How did the get the buffalo to get such big horns, did they bring lowveld ones in?

Great shots as always...a pleasure!

Hot is when it gets to about 37 degrees RP... we had 41 degrees that afternoon
Definitely no lowveld buffs in Addo as they want to keep them disease free so they can sell them at such a high price. There are quite a few bulls with decent horns... not nearly as wide as their northern counterparts, but decent all the same

Yay, yay, yay! Another tale from Addo

Although you have me confused about the school holidays... I thought they have started just now?
When did you go camping?

Addo is such a great place for close elephant encounters

I couldn't agree more! And they are beautiful specimens as well

Mel... school holidays started last week. Our camping trip was last Friday to Sunday

That Little ellie is gorgeous, PJL,

and also love your zebras and great that you saw elands

Thanks Pumbaa... nice to have you following along as always

[PJL]

There were still plenty of elephants including youngsters arriving at Hapoor, but we decided to head up to the main camp so as to get the tent pitching out the way.



As we trundled along the main road up to camp we stopped to let this teeny tiny angulate tortoise cross the road.... it was barely larger than a dung beetle



We were fortunate to get a decent sized camping site at one end of the camping area. Best of all it had some decent shade so the pitching of our trailer tent wasn't nearly as frazzling as I had been expecting

At the main camp waterhole Valli Moosa was cooling off in the water and showing off his impressive tusks to a young pretender



We then retreated to our own water hole for some cooling off



It was turning into a sweltering day, so after the swim, some obligatory ice creams and yet more swimming it was time to venture for an afternoon drive. As there was so much going on at Hapoor it seemed sensible to return there, but this time via the hyena dens at Rooidam to see if they were hanging out at all. Unfortunately they weren't to be seen at this point, but Rooidam was awash with colour as some purple flowers were blooming all over the place







Between Rooidam and Hapoor we came across a bit of traffic as Gibson had flopped out in some shade at the side of the road... he looked like he was seriously struggling with the heat





It was nice that he wasn't totally flat out, and he glanced around a bit at the other vehicles disturbing his slumber





After one final look around he flopped back down



TBC

[Flutterby]

Such a handsome lion...I can only imagine how they struggle in the heat with those manes!

Such a tiny little tortoise!

[Richprins]

Exquisite!

41 degrees!

Love the tortoise, and the pool shot...nice setup they have there!

And larney flower garden!


Gibson is struggling with overeating too! Very nice sunrays there, Peej!

[Mel]

That Gibson boy suffered of the big meal torturing him in form of his huuuge belly

I still can't believe how grown him and his brother are by now

The pool looks inviting!

And the tortoise looks almost as big as the baby ellie in that angle