Two Days in Addo Elephant Park

We spent two wondeful days in Addo National Elephant Park in early April. It was a beautiful experience. The animals are wonderful, the park is huge, so they are really roaming freely. Elephants are amazing.

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The Dung beetle is as much a part of the park as are the elephants. No elephants, no dung beetles. They are happily collecting dung and living the life along with more than 500 elephants.
Beautiful Brunsvigia striata
Near the entrance to Addo is a private game park that has giraffe. None in Addo.
Beautiful tortise
Elephants going to the watering hole.
Tortise says "I'm Out Of Here!"
Running as fast as he can
Zebras in the park are plentiful, hundreds. Cute mama and baby.
Mixed herds of grazing animals
Red hartebeest
More hartebeest
Warthogs by the dozens. We saw hundresd.
     
Kudu are the magnificent antelope
Ha di da
     
 
These are beasts. Cape buffalo. This guy is a very mature one.
This is pure adrenolyn producing, heart thumping fun. Here we are on a one lane track. Just us and the buffalo. He's going his way, we were going ours. Stopped, pictures like crazy. Remember, this is OUR car, not a park vehicle. Yvonne could have reached out and touched his horn, without stretching. Pure fun and excitment
     
More buffalo
Eland - largest of the african antelope
OK, so this is why we came. Our first elephant. A solitary male out for his lunch-time drink at the water hole.
A very old male, just chewing up the meadow
We saw this group wandering down a path next to the track and follwed them
Then they decided to cross the road. We have turned around in the mean time. Are they crossing the road or not? Are we in the way? What to do? I backed up. Then they decided to actually cross the road.
     
Mom telling junior what to do
At the watering hole, dozens of elephants on both afternoons.
Play fighting - learning how.
Mom & baby
More play fighting
How the little one avoids being stepped on is amazing
 
Enough water
Where to go next? We watched them mill about for around 30 mintes. You could hear them talking to each other in that low growling tone. This way! No This way!
Here's a mom having lunch. Young ones hanging about.
     
Elephant in the thicket, beautiful
OK, who has the right of way!
More on the road. This is the second day, so we were much more brave.
I could have touched her.

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