An Addo Adventure Story: A Windy Day...

Addo's Magnificent Change In Weather... Just Like That!

As I entered the Addo Elephant National Park at around about 10 am on a December Friday morning, the temperature was about 30 degrees Celsius. I immediately went off to the underground hide in the main rest camp of the Addo Elephant National Park to find a Grey heron looking very proud of himself on the embankment. After this had happened I wondered over to the Nyathi waterhole in the Addo camp, I was not surprised with what I saw! A lone bull African Elephant and a couple of Common Warthog. I can almost guarantee that you will see these specific South African animals drinking or close to this waterhole in the morning hours.

See pictures below...

I went off to see what I could find in the park and the blooming Sweet Thorn Acacia flowers looked amazing. I found a breeding herd of 30 or so African Elephants drinking at the Woodlands waterhole. Then out of no where, a 40 km/h wind started blowing, stirring up dust and keeping birds well hidden in the dense Addo thicket. I have never known the wind to blow so hard and for so long in Addo. The wind, although mysterious and spectacular, had a big impact on the outcome of wildlife viewing on the day. Not many birds were sighted and mammal observations were few and far between.

The major sightings I had this time around include the following: I saw quite a few different herds of African Elephant scattered all over the park, I got a close up view of a Cape Cobra crossing the road, the occasional Kudu bull, a Spur-Winged Goose at Domkrag dam and my most favourite sighting of all... A Black Backed Jackal cub at Hapoor dam together with an adult Jackal, but I presumed these 2 Jackals were unfamiliar with each other as they did not take much notice of each other! Listed below are the other creatures I managed to see on this day in the Addo Elephant Park... A very windy day!

Common Ostrich, Black-Headed Heron, Red Hartebeest, Small Grey Mongoose, Red-Knobbed Coot, White Stork, Cape Crow, Cattle Egret, Southern Pale Chanting Goshawk, Steppe Buzzard, Marsh Terrapin, Cape Glossy Starling, Black-Eyed Bulbul, Burchell's Zebra and Vervet Monkey.

Here are some of the best photo's from this Addo adventure, click the image to make it larger.

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