Bright Morning Light: Lots of Warthogs and a Few Elephants

Elephant Parade

It was a morning like any other, only this time would be the beginning of a grand adventure that would take us into the wilds of Africa. Ok, so not really the wilds, but the semi-wilds. My grandparents and I were headed to the Addo Elephant Park in the Eastern Cape, a trip that was my birthday present. I must say that it had to be the most exciting birthday present ever.

We started out on our journey on Sunday morning and drove until we reached Knysna, stopping briefly to get petrol at a station that had an enclosure with goats and geese. Between Knysna and George we found our accommodations in the quaint Sunbird lodge at a little B&B called Masechka. After a good night's sleep we headed off to find what adventures were in store for us. We arrived at our hotel, the Addo Elephant Estate near the Game Reserve, in time to head off for an evening drive through the park. Warthogs. They were everywhere. That's what we discovered. Other than warthogs, we saw some Zebras, Red Hartebeests, an Eland, some Kudu and a bunch of birds.
On Tuesday, we arose early and headed off for an early morning drive through the park. This time we got to see Elephants at the watering hole, more warthogs, some adorable Meerkats, Zebras, Kudu, and even a turtle and some black-backed jackals. With each animal sighting, a checkmark went on the list next to its picture in the pamphlet we were given on arrival. As the morning neared 9:30 we headed out of the park for our 10 am breakfast at the hotel. A relaxing nap and some snacks and then off again to see what we could see. This time we drove all the way to the south end of the park, and even saw Lions! Unfortunately, we didn't get close to the Lions but we did get to see them! We also saw Ostrich, Buffalo, more Kudu, Zebras, and of course Warthogs.

Lions!

We had brought along a picnic supper for ourselves so we sat at the little picnic area eating our banana bread, custard, and peaches before heading off to join the nighttime game drive. We climbed aboard the big, open sided, game vehicle and prepared ourselves to see what we could see. The guide was a very amusing fellow full of knowledge about the park and the animals. We saw Hyenas, Jackals, Buffalo, A spring hare, some Hawk-Owls, a puff adder, and a scrub hare that looked very much like a kangaroo.
We arrived back at the hotel at 9:45 pm, only to find that it had been locked and barred. We were the only people staying at the hotel and the receptionist hadn't told the night-watchman that there were guests. After banging on all the doors and trying to jimmy the windows we called the number of the security company that was posted on the outside hoping that they could call the owners. They were just confused so we hopped back in the car and headed to the police station where Gramma informed the officer that we needed help breaking into our hotel. After a good laugh, they managed to get ahold of the security company and informed them that they had to come help us. The security company officer showed up within minutes and drove around back of the hotel where he managed to rustle up the night watchman who was listening to the radio and washing dishes. The poor guard was very apologetic, informing us that he didn't know that there were people staying in the hotel that night so he had locked everything up.

The next morning we started our journey home, stopping to see the Storms River Mouth as we wandered past. We then spent the night in George and met up with Diantha de Beers, a cousin of my Aunt Shelley, for supper. Our accommodations for the night were spectacular - in the wonderful Ibis Lodge Guest House run by a lovely Belgian couple. It even had hot water for my shower! (something that my room at Addo Guest Lodge didn't have). We finally arrived at home on Thursday, tired but exhilarated from our journey.