Usually, when we travel with our grandchildren the Earl and I are the first up. It’s then several calls before the kids get themselves into gear. This trip, however, we have had no problem getting Simon up early and this morning when I opened the caravan door at quarter past six, he had already packed up his tent and was waiting for us at the picnic table! Grandpa hadn’t even opened his eyes yet. But with little else to be done but hitch up the caravan we managed to leave camp by half-past seven.

The weather was slightly cloudy but pleasantly warm. We drove slowly through the park and left via the Colchester Gate.

The first creature to capture our attention was a grey heron on top of a tree.

We did not expect to see elephants at the waterholes this early on a cool morning but were rewarded at Marion Baree. Some of the elephants were already heading into the bush but some remained to play and chat.

We were just about to move on when the Earl saw a few buffalo coming down the road. They were making their way to the water hole.

After watching the buffs and ellies we continued on and enjoyed seeing large herds of zebra and red hartebeest.

We reached to exit gate at around quarter to ten and then went to Taste of Africa in Colchester for breakfast.

They were very busy and so service was a little slow but the breakfasts were excellent and the coffee good.

It was around quarter past two when we got back to Plettenberg Bay. They had had rain while we were away and it was very misty when we arrived. But it was good to be back with the family. We will spend two more nights here before returning to Struisbaai.

Friday 19 November 2021

Temperatures rose to around 24 degrees C today and we enjoyed the sunny conditions. We were up and ready to explore by quarter to eight.

We stopped at Jack’s Picnic Site for a loo break and to stretch our legs. It’s a good place to look for birds too.

We returned at 10:30 and made breakfast and then went out again at 12. But first, we checked out the camp waterhole. All we saw were Egyptian Geese, Lesser Striped Swallows, Hadedas and Blacksmith Lapwings.

Our afternoon trip produced elephants at most of the waterholes we visited and we also had good sightings of zebra, kudu and red hartebeest. Simon has excellent spotting skills and got us a black rhino. It was far off and kept disappearing into the bush so we did not get a photograph but it was lovely to see.

Supper this evening was braaied chicken, chops and boerewors with potatoes and salad.

In spite of LockDown restrictions, Gecko 81 has managed to break away and do a bit of exploring this year. After our long Kruger trip, we really did try to stay home for a while. We had a few things that needed our attention in Struisbaai but once they were over we felt drawn to hitch up the caravan again. But first, we had to pop over to Cape Town so I could attend a College Old Girls’ gathering. We were there for four days, did some chores that needed doing, visited a few friends and relatives, and then came back to Struisbaai to fetch the caravan. Our daughters, Lisa and Laurie drove up too and then travelled with us to Plettenberg Bay where we stayed with our middle daughter for a few days. We celebrated her 50th birthday on the 16th. We had not planned to take any of the grandchildren to Addo with us but discovered that our youngest, Simon (almost 17) has completed his school year and was on holiday. His sister (almost 20) is studying and working so could not take time off much to her and our disappointment!

So after spending three nights in Plett with the family we set off to Addo this morning. It poured during the night and was raining still when we awoke. We worried that it would be raining in Addo too but by the time we left Plett at 8:30 it had stopped and we had no rain on the trip. We found out though, that it had also rained here the day before and this morning. Simon is sleeping in a tent so hopefully, the rain will hold off for the rest of the time that we are here.

It is not easy to get caravan sites in Addo Elephant Park at short notice and when I booked ten days ago there were very few sites available. We entered Colchester Gate at 1 pm and arrived at Addo Rest camp an hour later.

Although the Eastern Cape has had a terrible drought for the past few years, the park was lovely and green. Clearly, the recent rains have brought on new growth. Much more is still needed.

The campsite was pretty full but we managed to get a really nice, shady spot near the ablution block. Two staff members appeared and helped us set up. It really wasn’t necessary especially as we had Simon but it did speed the process up considerably.

After setting up, doing a bit of shopping and having a cup of coffee and a snack we set off for our afternoon drive.

We returned just after 6 pm and decided to go to The Cattle Baron for dinner. Skukuza has a Cattle Baron that does excellent Chateaubriand and we hoped Addo’s would be as good. And it was! It is served with a choice of chips, rice or baked potato plus spinach and butternut for the table. Simon had calamari and thoroughly enjoyed that too. It was a real treat to get such lovely food and excellent service.