Watching elephants doesn't always have to be done from a back of a game viewing vehicle or your own car. Addo Elephant National Park has a waterhole with a nice viewing area at its main rest camp and often visitors arriving at the park gets to see elephant here before they even drive into the game viewing area.
The road from Matyholweni gate winding into the Addo Elephant National Park
You don't kick a lion kill out from behind every bush and very few people have had the opportunity to see the actual kill take place. What you do get though are the remains of those kills. Bones picked clean and bleached white by the sun.
Being tall isn't always that easy. Sometimes those long legs need a rest as well. You won't easily see giraffes sitting down where there are lions in the area. That's because they are all legs when they get up and can easily be taken off guard. Luckily for this one she lives in the Seaview Preditor Park and the lions here are in seperate enclosures.
I always say how fortunate we are in Port Elizabeth to have so many game reserves and game parks close to the city, but I say it because I really mean it. For a quick game watching outing and for sheer number and variety of animals I prefer Kragga Kamma Game Park, but visiting Seaview Preditor Park the other day I did get this great scene with zebra, blesbuck and giraffe.
The Lion. King of the Jungle but also one of the laziest animals around. But why not? When one is King you take it easy and just do the necessary, like hunt and eat. Addo Elephant National Park as well as most of the private game reserves around Port Elizabeth have lions so if you get to visit any of these you have a good chance of having a royal encounter.
People from all over the world travel to Africa on a daily basis to, amongst many things, see elephants in the wild. Here in Port Elizabeth we are extremely privileged to have Addo Elephant National Park as well as many private game reserves right on our doorstep. I could easily hop in my car and within an hour be watching wild elephants in their natural environment in Addo. From 9 - 13 September is South African National Parks Week and…
I love game drives. Being out in the open and fresh air with a breeze in your face and the sound of birds around. Watching animals in their natural environment. The sun rising or setting on the horizon. Sharing special moments and sightings with loved ones and seeing the reaction of strangers from all over the world to those moments. I love game drives.
What is the difference between visiting a game reserve and a zoo? At a zoo the animals are kept in enclosures with little freedom and visitors are guaranteed to see them although the sightings include walls, buildings, fences and cages. At a game reserve you will see the animals in their natural environment and as they are free to roam throughout the reserve but there is no guarantee to see them. So which would you rather do? Personally I would take my chances and…
When you ask visitors which of the Big 5 they would like to see the lion and elephant always comes up first followed by the rhino and then the leopard. For some reason the buffalo always seem to be forgotten. Why? Because people see it as little more than wild cattle? Perhaps. What they don't realise is that the very docile and quiet looking Cape Buffalo are aggravated very easily and then turns into a killing machine, goring those in its…