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We spent today in Addo Elephant Park, a small national park just north of Port Elizabeth. We had a wonderful day self driving around the park which is well mapped out with signs, some of the roads tarred, other dirt. We picked up a guide this morning for $20 who drove with us for two hours and told us a lot about the park, its origins and its inhabitants. When the park was proclaimed, there were only 11 elephants left after the majority had been killed. There are now over 500. It is also home to 11 lions (we saw 8 of them) and the flightless dung beetle which has right of way on the road. You are asked not to drive over it or the elephant dung on the road. The beetle is actually quite big and you can see it as it crosses the road.
We watched 3 young lions munching on a kudu they had obviously killed last night next to a waterhole. The jackals also hung about waiting for their chance to get in and take some meat. We watched the lions get chased off by an elephant but once the elephant left, they soon returned. Also in the park we saw zebra, blue crane (SA's national bird), kudu, warthog, rock monitor lizard and lots of other birds. We had lunch in the park restaurant before going out for more game viewing. We were actually starting to wonder where all the elephants were because we didn't see many in the morning but in the afternoon there were quite a few out. They were obviously waiting for the sun to warm up as the wind did make it a little chilly.
So it was a great day and we returned to The Aardvark, the backpackers we are staying at which is really lovely. One of the best places we've stayed in, very comfy and clean and great kitchen. It is beautifully decorated and on each of the beds is a hand painted piece of material. Speaking to the owner I found out his wife has some for sale so she bought them over for me to look at and I bought one. Once I get home, I'm going to buy a white cover for my bed and this will fit nicely on top.
We arrived here early yesterday evening after our drive from Knysna which is where we headed to after we left Oudtshoorn. There wasn't much to see on the drive to Knysna but the scenery changed once more from scrub and almost desert like conditions back to the coastal scenery. We arrived early afternoon but much was closed since it was Sunday. We wandered around the waterfront and then went for a drive to see some views. Knysna is set on a lovely lagoon which opens to the ocean at two heads. We drove up to one of the heads for the view over the town, lagoon and ocean. Quite high up but well worth the look. We then went down to the beach for a look and got quite windswept.
Returned to the hostel for a quiet night in. Not the best one we've stayed in, it's a little run down and needs some TLC but we did have a meal cooked for us which was very tasty. We left there yesterday morning to make the drive here. Along the way we stopped at Plettenberg Bay for a view down the coast. We happened to see a whale just off the beach and to make our day, it decided to breach a few times for us. Continued along the coast, unfortunately the sky was grey and miserable and it rained on and off.
We stopped at a place called Monkeyland and Birds of Eden. Monkeyland is a big reserve that has 300 monkeys, about 12 different species. Most of them are ex-pets that can't be released into the wild but this is pretty close. They do put out fruit for them because there isn't enough food for them all, but you do have to go for a walk through the forest and spot them. We saw this Gibbon swinging through the forest and we couldn't believe how fast he moved. It was incredible watching him. Bird of Eden was a huge walk through aviary, the largest in the southern hemisphere I believe with lots of beautiful birds. There was this one parrot that took a liking to me and kept flying onto my bag and nibbling at my strap. Mum had to walk around with a stick so she could nudge it off every time it landed on me!!
We turned off into Jefferey's Bay for a look. This is a famous surfing town and has a spot called The Supertubes which I took mum down to look at. Watched a few brave souls out on the surfboards catching the waves.
We then made it the rest of the way here to Addo, where unfortunately tomorrow we have to leave and we now have 2 days to make it to Durban where we will drop off the car and then continue our journey with Baz Bus. Hope everyone is well, we are having a fabulous time, just wish we had longer!!
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