#AddoElephantPark

Ahhh!! We're finally here! We had a sad farewell with Granny, Ocea and Simon before heading to Port Elizabeth. It was beautiful flying over the ocean and country. Unfortunately, I didn't spot any whales :(

It was a long drive from the airport into Addo Elephant park. It was mostly rural scenery. It's always sad travelling through parts of South Africa and seeing the poverty in each part. Big shanty towns lined some of the roads for miles and other times, there was just emptiness. At last we arrived just as night began to fall. My dad had booked us a hut overlooking the waterhole. In the evenings it was lit up so you just see the silhouettes of the animals as they pause for a drink. Unloading the car, I couldn't peel my eyes away waiting for each new shape to appear when suddenly.

Out of the darkness an enormous figure stood majestically in the light. An enormous bull elephant stared at me from afar, standing completely still, in that moment I froze in sheer amazement. I didn't want my dad to miss it but I was also worried I may frighten him away so in my best loud whisper I called my dad over. Together we stood and watched him, now more relaxed, shaking his head, bending to get water and then, he was gone. I couldn't sleep with the excitement buzzing through me that night. This was my dream and it had started so incredibly well.

The next morning we rose to the sound of a wild animals, different birds flew amongst the bushes, kudu (a giant deer like creature) occupied almost every inch of space around the water hole and surrounding land. We sat outside our hut and ate our breakfast in the most peaceful setting imaginable. One or two other people popped out of their huts but as it was winter, the park was fairly quiet.

My dad decided it would be a good idea to book a guide for the morning so we had a very nice chap called Simone join us. To begin with, the grounds were covered in common animals like kudu, warthog and zebras. My eyes were popping out my skull as I intently watched out for the slightest movement in the bushes. After a while we pulled over where Simone had said it was safe to do so. I immediately thought of the story from the lion park and paced very near to the car not watching to be devoured in the same way as that poor woman. Way in the distance we could see giant boulders but they were moving slightly. "Those are the elephants!" Our guide told us.
I grabbed the binoculars to get a closer look. It was nice, but I couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed that we weren't closer to them.

We carried on through the park seeing jackals, red hartebeest and

meerkats...plus a mongoose (my dad wanted me to mention it).
We rounded a corner and had to pull the car to a sudden stop. Right next to us a huge herd of elephants were grazing in the bushes. They were giants! They had the least bit of interest in us as we snapped millions of pictures. I think I may have squealed when a teeny baby elephant came trotting out from behind its mother. Every few moments we were calling to each other to look at this one and that one. They allowed our car to be so close we could have reached out and touched them ( I wouldn't advise it!).