Addo National Elephant Park

We are loving being able to pop into the park on a whim, especially now that we have registered for our Wild Card which gives us unlimited access to over 80 parks and reserves  in South Africa.

We have tried to find the 3 lion cubs but alas, it seems they are spotted the day before or the day after we have been into the park.  There may be more cups in December.  We were however graced with the presence of a lion and had him all to ourselves for a good 30 minutes.

I believe a lioness gave him his scars.  Poor boy.

I love his two tone mane.

He kept calling his mate, sadly she was nowhere to be seen though.  His call echoed and vibrated through the air and carried far and wide.  It is amazing how loud and deep his call is.  It was an incredible experience to hear it.

He made sure to mark a bush just in case anybody wanted to come into his territory uninvited.

Poor boy was exhausted after all the calling and marking so had a wee rest at a watering hole.

There are loads of baby elephants and we spotted a couple of little fellows who were no more than a couple of days old.

Staying safe near mom.

I didn’t notice the little guy on the right while I was taking this photo of another ellie having a drink – funny little thing.

It was lovely to see jackal after so many were poisoned a while back.

Not sure what the kill is but they were having a wonderful breakfast all the while wagging their tails non stop.

A little afternoon grooming.

Settling in for an afternoon nap.

A young kudu bull with his new horns.

Can you spot the hole in his right ear. Wonder if he went through a rebellious stage and pieced his ear after his parents said no.

This caracal graciously sat still for me to get a quick photo before heading off into the thick of the bush.

It was lovely to watch this new family. They were very relaxed and not at all perturbed by our presence.

The baby still has a fuzzy coat, not all smooth like his mommy and daddy yet.

This little fellow was lighting fast to cross the road to chomp on some grass.

Mr Ostrich was also enjoying a grassy snack.

I wonder if buffalo can get a cold because this guy hat a lot of snot flying about.

This starling has the most brilliant yellow eye and beautiful shiny peacock coloured feathers.

I tried to capture this guy shaking off his dust bath.

I’m sure this Franklin was trying to play chicken with us.

I love the colouring on red hartebeest. Both male and females have horns unlike kudu where only the males have horns.

Fascinating horns and leaf like stripes in pointy ears

Now, if we could just spot leopard, rhino and hyena…