06/04/2023 by Anne

A FAMILY OUTING

… to the Ngulube Waterhole in the Addo Elephant National Park.

15/01/2023 by Anne

ZEBRAS IN ADDO

There is always a sense of anticipation whenever we enter a national park: what animal will we see first? On this day trip to the Addo Elephant National Park, zebras won hands down: they were everywhere!

Some ignored vehicles in order to continue grazing right next to the road.

This one was literally pulling up daisy-like plants.

It has been a good season for babies.

The herds of zebra were always accompanied by flocks of Cattle Egrets, eager to catch insects in their wake.

These two were standing apart from the rest.

03/12/2022 by Anne

ZEBRAS AGAIN

A few readers enjoyed the glimpse of zebras in my post on the landscape of the Eastern Cape, so I thought of providing a few more pictures of them for your enjoyment. These photographs were all taken in the Addo Elephant National Park. The first shows a zebra in a field of gazanias. It is wonderful to see how this park transforms into a floral wonderland once the first spring rains have fallen.

While we often see herds of these beautiful creatures in the open grasslands, occasionally one or two walk purposefully next to the road. What a joy it is to see them from so close.

This one has a particularly intricate pattern on its back.

While this one shows recent battle wounds. Males attack each other quite fiercely to gain or maintain breeding rights.

During the winter, even dry grass contains some nourishment.

Lastly, a photograph to demonstrate how useful zebras find their tails to ward off flies and other biting insects.

07/09/2022 by Anne

SCENES FROM NATIONAL PARKS

South Africa is blessed with several national parks. It takes time and travelling long distances to visit even some of them, yet none disappoint. Today I will feature scenes from a few of them. The Addo Elephant National Park is not very far from where we live and so, every now and then, we go there for a day visit. Given its name, visitors naturally expect to see elephants there:

It is also a good place for birding, where one might be fortunate to see raptors such as this Jackal Buzzard:

The Mountain Zebra National Park is also easily accessible to us and is the perfect place to spend a few days. Visitors here would obviously expect to see mountain zebras:

However, one might also be fortunate to spot a cheetah lying in the yellow grass:

There are red hartebeest in the Karoo National Park – which makes a good stopping point between where we live and Cape Town:

One can also enjoy seeing ostriches striding along the open veld:

The world famous Kruger National Park is several day’s journey from here and hosts an enormous variety of plants, birds, insects and animals. When we consider the alarming rate at which rhinos are killed in this country, we cannot help but feel privileged to see them from close quarters here:

The name on every visitor’s lips is ‘lion’. Mention the word and people speed up and jostle for space to see even the tip of the tail of one. Equally exciting to see though are leopards:

The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is the furthest away from us and – despite its remote location – is such a popular destination that one has to book accommodation about a year ahead. This is an incredible place for seeing lions:

It is also a marvellous place for seeing the very beautiful crimson-breasted shrike:

23/08/2022 by Anne

WATER IS LIFE

South Africans are no strangers to drought and so we can empathise with the extremely dry conditions being experienced in parts of Europe. Some spring rains have arrived here – the hope is always for more! We all need water to survive and so I share some pictures of various creatures taking a much needed drink in the Addo Elephant National Park. The first are vervet monkeys enjoying a drink from puddles in the road: