More Game Parks!

One can never get enough of the game parks in South Africa. In the states, we get excited to see a deer (well, some of us – not Jodi’s dad, who hates animals). But here, it’s almost a guarantee that one will see zebras or warthogs on the road in the game parks. We just never cease to be amazed.

This past week, our wonderful landlords, Mary and Steve, invited us for a game drive and picnic in nearby Double Drift, their favorite place to view animals and scenery. We were thrilled to see nine different kinds of animals, but Mary and Steve were disappointed (they are so accustomed to seeing elephants and rhinos that a trip without these is a bit of a let down!). They also took us to a few of their favorite views and a historic fort. At one point, Steve drove the car over the river-flooded causeway to continue our journey (see picture). Mary and Steve sure know how to pack a lunch too, with chicken curry, salad, sweet potato bread, wine, beer, cheese, etc. If only we would have had them with us when we lived in our car those past few weeks; we may not have been living on sandwiches and raisins for three weeks.

In addition to our road trip with Mary and Steve, we spent a day in Addo National Elephant Park and saw our very first elephants, which have eluded us over the past six months in South Africa. At first, we drove around for two hours in the park to no avail. After a while, Jodi needed to use the restroom, which meant we had to drive back to the entrance of the park (much to the annoyance of Chris… after all, it had only been two hours). At the main gate, however, we heard about some elephant sightings that morning in the park, so, we headed that way. Not more than a kilometer, we saw an elephant right next to the road! We stopped our car…and all of a sudden, the elephant started walking towards us, and even lifted his trunk up in the air. We didn’t know what to do! Was it going to stomp on our car? Was it going to grab our food out of the window (we had just unpacked our sandwiches)? Was it going to think our little silver Atos was a sexy fellow elephant and try and make love? Chris was thinking that maybe we should move the car a bit. Jodi suggested we stay put but kept insisting to roll up the windows. All the while, our adrenaline was soaring and our mouths gaping open as the elephant walked right in front of us to the other side of the road! It was amazing. After we high-fived, calmed down, and Jodi stated more than once, “You OWE me (for having to pee),” we drove further only to see so many more elephants, including babies, next to the road. We had to laugh at our earlier panic since it was completely unnecessary and apparently this was more commonplace in Addo than we initially suspected. Though, we still high-fived again at our great luck of elephant sightings! Check out the video below.

After our game drive, we went for a hike on Zuurberg pass, another section of Addo. It was a beautiful hike and we had the entire mountain to ourselves. Apparently no one had even hiked the trail that day as we were constantly walking through big spider webs on the trail. We ended up carrying a stick in front of us to keep the webs from our faces. Along our 8 km hike, the landscape was green with rolling hills, massive aloe plants, and a stunning pond with a deep blue hue. We had a bit of a scare at the end because the sun was close to setting, we hadn’t seen a single person in three hours, a layer of mist had formed so we couldn’t see much except large Kudu staring at us, and we weren’t entirely sure we had the correct trail. Thankfully, we did find our way and made it to our car and down the pass before sunset.

We have had a great few weekends in Grahamstown since moving into our new home. Chris has been busy with his research. And, Jodi is dealing with mixed feelings regarding her return to the states. When we experience these days of sight seeing, it is hard for Jodi to think about returning home. But most other days, she is ready and excited to see friends, family, the cats; eat salsa and chunky ice cream; have one bed and one home to rely on; and, go back to work (yep, go back to work). August 14, the day of departure, is coming fast!