South Africa (2020)
Inhalt/Content
Addo Elephant Park
The next day we got in line very early to finally get to know South Africa’s so-called “Load Shedding”. “Load shedding refers to the controlled switching off of electricity in certain areas. The cause is South Africa’s ramshackle electricity network, which unfortunately, like much of the country, is eaten away by corruption and cannot be maintained in any other way. So we were completely in the dark that night and were allowed to take a quick shower in the light of our smartphone lamps before we got back into the car and set off.
Our first way led us to the vicinity of Elephant Walk, where Georg, one of the Germans from the Sani Lodge who had also taken part in the Hodgson’s Peaks hike, was already waiting for us. We had exchanged contact details before our departure to Lesotho, when we realized after checking the travel plans that we would be in PE at the same time.
Our destination today was the Addo Elephant Park. Compared to the Kruger National Park, the Addo is a clearly small but nevertheless very popular national park where, contrary to the name, there are of course not only elephants. Together we wanted to do a self-drive safari, similar to the Kruger. We parked at the reception to pay the entrance fee. On the car next door already little monkeys were jumping around, which made a great picture. Also the reception of the park was affected by the “load shedding”, so that we solved our entrance under candlelight. Compared to the Kruger there was much less infrastructure in the Addo concerning restaurants and picnic areas. We had our breakfast in the first and apparently only restaurant, which unfortunately was quite a tourist canteen before the safari finally started.
At one point we also had a little Deja Vu. Just like in the Kruger Park, a car passed us again. The drivers let down the window and told us that down the road there were lions. We followed their description and actually found the lions. It was not difficult to recognize them, because once again there were many cars at this place. This time it was two male lions. While one of them watched the spectacle from the grass, the other was sleeping calmly in the middle of the road. Even though the spectacle was no less absurd than in Kruger Park, we were able to take some great pictures of the two lions again.
After we drove for a while along densely overgrown bushes, we actually already saw our first herd of elephants. A group of elephant cows crossed the road together with their young. I brought the car to a proper distance and the cameras were already pulled out. From then on, one wild animal followed the next. Warthogs, antelopes and zebras followed. A lot of zebras… Often the zebras were on the road blocking the way. Actually these are quite peaceful animals, but once we got too close to one of the zebras. It gritted its hooves and stomped towards us so that I had to put the car back. Every now and then there were waterholes with numerous animals. Especially the zebras were very close again. At one time, we suddenly saw a bull elephant walking comfortably towards the road. Probably, he had just cooled down at a waterhole, because he was still wet. One should be careful in the presence of elephants. It has often happened that they took cars on their horns and knocked them over. So I wanted to drive on, but Georg told me to stop, but to leave the engine running. The elephant seemed to be relaxed and apparently ignored us. Admittedly the animals in the national parks were probably used to cars anyway. So he trotted comfortably directly past our car. It was a great sight to be so close to such an animal.
In addition to the elephants that gave the park its name, the Addo Elephant Park was home to another species that is closely associated with elephants, namely dung beetles, which enjoyed the numerous elephant dung. The species of dung beetles found here is a very special one, as it is only found in the Addo and is under strict species protection. So a road sign warns you to pay attention to the little park inhabitants, which now and then led to a little slalom ride. The centipedes had less luck. In some places the road consisted of a carpet of centipedes and it was impossible to avoid them. If another centipede was accidentally run over by the car, the noise of the bursting armor under the car tire came to our ears. With every sound, the feeling of guilt grew, but, as I said, it was impossible to avoid all these centipedes.
After our visit in the Addo we wanted to strengthen ourselves again, because we had to spend another night in the coach. Georg suggested a place called Nanaga Farm Stable, which was practically on the way back. It was, similar to the Elephant Walk, a small complex with a shop with local products, a restaurant, where meals were prepared from these products and a small souvenir shop. Although this time, it was not as picturesque as in the Elephant Walk, but the food was still very tasty and it is nice to see how many regional shops there are in South Africa. This was definitely a positive memory for us. Nevertheless, this was of course still South Africa and also here certain social problems became clear. The staff was black, but the customers were almost exclusively white. It seemed once again that only the white population could afford this healthy lifestyle.
Well strengthened we went back to Port Elizabeth, where we dropped off the rental car at the airport and then drove to the bus station from where we should go to Cape Town.
