Addo Elephant National Park

Last night we stayed at Gonubie Holiday Resort which was definitely nothing to write home about, but was just fine as a stop over. Firstly the GPS took us to the wrong camp, but we took a scenic drive through town to find the right place, and then I managed to lock the keys in the car (oops!). The car we have automatically relocks if you don’t open the driver’s door, so leaving the keys on the passenger seat and shutting the door is not a good idea! Luckily there was a group of local workers camping next to us, and they very kindly helped us get the keys out of the car. At least we got to meet some of the locals and it didn’t happen when we were completely on our own in the middle of nowhere. Needless to say we now have the spare key tucked inside the tent just in case.

We arrived at Addo Elephant National Park around lunch time today and are staying here tonight. After a quick lunch it was off on our first game drive of the trip. There are definitely a lot of elephants here and they are very easy to find and extremely relaxed around vehicles. It is though quite civilised and feels a little like a zoo with the tarred roads, the perimeter fences (even if it is huge) and all the cars, although it is awesome to get so close to the elephants. The elephants are somewhat smaller than others we have seen in Africa and they are all caked in red mud. Apart from herds of elephants, we saw zebras, kudu, black-backed jackals, red hartebeest, buffalo, leopard tortoise and warthogs.

The campground is extremely civilised with each site fenced off with hedges for privacy, picnic tables and a braai. Not at all like some of the places we will be camping as we head further north!