All four of us are up for an early start today, grabbing a quick breakfast of eggs on toast and coffee at the guesthouse and heading to Addo Elephant National Park for a guided tour. We arrive at the Crisscross Adventure centre and sign a waiver absolving the company of any liability should we get mauled by wild animals. We bundle into the jeep, and head out to Africanos resort (where we had dinner last night) to pick up some other guests, so there are 9 of us altogether, in a comfortable van with open windows all around. Our tour guide Michael tells us that we're not guaranteed to see any particular animals, as the park is huge and it all depends where the wildlife is roaming today. We strike lucky immediately though, with a Buffalo chomping on some grass just inside the entrance gates. Our guide tells us about the habits of these animals, when they stay in groups and when the males become more solitary as they reach a certain age. It's all very educational, like watching the nature channel but a million times better in real life.
As we drive along the winding road through the reserve, we see a small group of elephants on the corner of a road. Cue lots of picture taking and some more information about these magnificent creatures. We discover you can tell if an elephant is left or right 'handed' by looking at their tusks, where one side will be more worn than the other. We spot a couple of warthogs too, these come to be a very common sighting, small groups travelling, feeding and resting all over the reserve.
Some more driving looking for animals leads us to a group of red hartebeest, and further up we see a herd of zebra crossing the plain. We learn some more about these beautiful creatures and continue on our way.
After a little more driving, spotting more warthogs, herons, and even a tortoise, we come to a spot on the road where lots of jeeps are stopped. There are 3 lions resting in the shade of the small bushes next to the road; 2 male and one female. We're lucky to catch a glimpse of these big cats, as there are only 11 of them in the park. The males in this group are brothers, and they travel as a group with the female. As we wait and watch, one of the males wakes up and casually strolls right behind our jeep to cross the road. It's so amazing to see these magnificent mammals right up close.
We leave the lions and continue on to a high point of the reserve, spotting some eland on the way. The biggest of the antelope on the reserve, they are slower and easier to catch than some of their smaller, nippier cousins. The view is breathtaking, and our guide tells us how the land has been gradually bought from farmers to extend the park, so the old partitions are still visible across the expansive open space. We're allowed to stretch our legs here, it's high up so presumably the animals don't tend to venture this far. After a quick photo opportunity we bundle back into the van to continue our adventure.
We head down to the watering hole, where there are herds of elephants drinking and cooling themselves with the precious water supply. It's fascinating to watch them fling the water over themselves with their trunks, with a baby circling around their feet for protection.
We head off towards the park exit, where our guide spots the horns of a kudu amongst the undergrowth. We leave the reserve and head back to our car, just as it starts to rain, marvelling at how lucky we are to have had great weather for the morning excursion and seen so many wonderful animals.
As we drive along the winding road through the reserve, we see a small group of elephants on the corner of a road. Cue lots of picture taking and some more information about these magnificent creatures. We discover you can tell if an elephant is left or right 'handed' by looking at their tusks, where one side will be more worn than the other. We spot a couple of warthogs too, these come to be a very common sighting, small groups travelling, feeding and resting all over the reserve.
Some more driving looking for animals leads us to a group of red hartebeest, and further up we see a herd of zebra crossing the plain. We learn some more about these beautiful creatures and continue on our way.
There's more! After a quick stop to pick up some lunch, we head out to the Daniell Cheetah Sanctuary near Kirkwood. We've bought bread and filling to make our own sandwiches, and as we sit in the car eating them and watching the rain pummel down outside the windows we could well be on a British summer holiday. Only we're waiting to go into a cheetah sanctuary and we spent the morning hanging out with elephants. Lunch eaten and rain subsided, we join a tour of the sanctuary after disinfecting our shoes and hands stop any nasty bugs getting into the enclosures. First up we meet some meerkats, who we learn can dig through virtually anything and can easily bite through flesh. Not quite the cuddly creatures they seem.
Next up we cross a wooden walkway over a cheetah enclosure where one of the females is relaxing. She doesn't seem phased by us and rolls on her back at one point, something that seems common to all cats, great and small.
Talking of smaller cats, we come to some smaller pens containing serval and caracal. I've never heard of either of these animals before, the serval with a stunning coat not unlike the cheetah, and the caracal a glossy reddish brown with long pointed ears. The serval are potentially becoming endangered but the caracal aren't, they're actually seen as a pest by farmers, since they're opportunistic hunters who will kill a farmer's entire stock when they only need one animal to feed and survive. We also learnt that they're the strongest of the big cat family pound for pound, with the strength to hunt prey 3 times their own bodyweight.
Moving on, the next enclosure has leopard adults and cubs. It's clear to see how the leopard uses strength in comparison to the cheetah's speed. They're considerably bigger and stockier, and they watch us with their beautiful faces as we walk past. One of the cubs is on his hind legs looking at us through the fence. He looks so adorable, and the cat lover in me just wants to give him a cuddle! This wouldn't be wise though, as we can see that one of the adults has a shortened tail; this is where he tried to steal his sister's food as a cub and she took part of his tail clean off. They might look pretty but they're fierce predators, even the cute cubs could do some serious damage to humans.
The last enclosure we reach houses 2 male rescue lions, who were bought by the sanctuary to prevent them being sold for canned hunting. It baffles me that it's legal to hunt lions with the correct permits, I can't imagine wanting to kill one of these magnificent beasts for a trophy, it saddens me that others don't feel the same and it's not safe for these animals to be released to the wild. It's illegal in South Africa to release animals that have been hand reared. They're too used to human contact and wouldn't be able to fend for themselves, so these 2 lions will live out the rest of their lives in captivity. They're pacing up and down which concerns me slightly, but our guide tells us this is just because they can see some pigs in a nearby enclosure that have been brought in as part of a petting zoo for the younger visitors. I hope this is true and the lions are happy, but part of me doubts this. They look healthy, and at least they'll be cared for here rather than being drugged and tracked for hunters to kill elsewhere.
That's just about it for the tour, but before we leave we get a chance to stroke a cheetah! His name is Khaki, he's a young male and seems quite happy to have lots of strangers come into his enclosure and gawp at him. The cats aren't forced to interact with the visitors, so they only get stroked if they're in the mood for it. His fur is coarse and wiry, and he's purring an enormous purr as he reclines comfortably and we approach him slowly, one by one, to give his head a good scratch and tickle his chin. Whilst it's a special experience, ethically I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the Daniell Cheetah Project as a sanctuary rather than a profit making endeavour. I believe that the staff here truly care about the big cats housed in the centre, and want to successfully breed the animals to help conserve the species, but whether it's actually right to keep these animals in relatively small enclosures and encourage contact with humans is questionable. We say goodbye to the cheetahs, and the other animals in the sanctuary, and head into nearby Kirkwood to meet one of Erica's old school friends who runs a citrus farm here.
Next up we cross a wooden walkway over a cheetah enclosure where one of the females is relaxing. She doesn't seem phased by us and rolls on her back at one point, something that seems common to all cats, great and small.
Talking of smaller cats, we come to some smaller pens containing serval and caracal. I've never heard of either of these animals before, the serval with a stunning coat not unlike the cheetah, and the caracal a glossy reddish brown with long pointed ears. The serval are potentially becoming endangered but the caracal aren't, they're actually seen as a pest by farmers, since they're opportunistic hunters who will kill a farmer's entire stock when they only need one animal to feed and survive. We also learnt that they're the strongest of the big cat family pound for pound, with the strength to hunt prey 3 times their own bodyweight.
Moving on, the next enclosure has leopard adults and cubs. It's clear to see how the leopard uses strength in comparison to the cheetah's speed. They're considerably bigger and stockier, and they watch us with their beautiful faces as we walk past. One of the cubs is on his hind legs looking at us through the fence. He looks so adorable, and the cat lover in me just wants to give him a cuddle! This wouldn't be wise though, as we can see that one of the adults has a shortened tail; this is where he tried to steal his sister's food as a cub and she took part of his tail clean off. They might look pretty but they're fierce predators, even the cute cubs could do some serious damage to humans.
The last enclosure we reach houses 2 male rescue lions, who were bought by the sanctuary to prevent them being sold for canned hunting. It baffles me that it's legal to hunt lions with the correct permits, I can't imagine wanting to kill one of these magnificent beasts for a trophy, it saddens me that others don't feel the same and it's not safe for these animals to be released to the wild. It's illegal in South Africa to release animals that have been hand reared. They're too used to human contact and wouldn't be able to fend for themselves, so these 2 lions will live out the rest of their lives in captivity. They're pacing up and down which concerns me slightly, but our guide tells us this is just because they can see some pigs in a nearby enclosure that have been brought in as part of a petting zoo for the younger visitors. I hope this is true and the lions are happy, but part of me doubts this. They look healthy, and at least they'll be cared for here rather than being drugged and tracked for hunters to kill elsewhere.
That's just about it for the tour, but before we leave we get a chance to stroke a cheetah! His name is Khaki, he's a young male and seems quite happy to have lots of strangers come into his enclosure and gawp at him. The cats aren't forced to interact with the visitors, so they only get stroked if they're in the mood for it. His fur is coarse and wiry, and he's purring an enormous purr as he reclines comfortably and we approach him slowly, one by one, to give his head a good scratch and tickle his chin. Whilst it's a special experience, ethically I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the Daniell Cheetah Project as a sanctuary rather than a profit making endeavour. I believe that the staff here truly care about the big cats housed in the centre, and want to successfully breed the animals to help conserve the species, but whether it's actually right to keep these animals in relatively small enclosures and encourage contact with humans is questionable. We say goodbye to the cheetahs, and the other animals in the sanctuary, and head into nearby Kirkwood to meet one of Erica's old school friends who runs a citrus farm here.
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