Addo Elephant National Park (Eastern Cape, South Africa)

April 7^th, 2011 (January 2011) – After Graaf-Reinet we were off to Addo Elephant National Park for two nights. We’d heard there might be elephants there. Turns out the rumors are true. I saw them with mine own eyes. When the park was established in 1931 there were only 11 of them left. Now they estimate there are somewhere in the neighborhood of 450. Dumbo lives....for now.

We arrived mid-morning, set up our tent near the park HQ (Addo Rest Camp), and restocked our supplies in the ‘town’ of Addo (if a petrol station, a market, and a liquor store qualify as a town) and spent our afternoon exploring the park in our VW Polo Vivo (Safari Edition). The park is roughly 164,000 hectares and split into three sections, one of which is where you find the majority of the larger animals. Over the course of two days we managed to see a variety of fauna to include buffalo, warthogs, elephants, flightless dung beetles, ostriches, jackals, a spotted hyena, lions (sort of), kudus, leopard tortoises, zebras, and a whole poop ton of birds.

Our first day was not such an auspicious beginning. The closing time for the park depends upon the time of year and duration of sunlight. On that day the park gates closed at 6:30 pm. We didn’t make it. Why? Well, the late afternoon/evening is the best time to spot wildlife and we got a little caught up. I blame the lions. And we (as in me) did something really stupid. While heading back we noticed said lions in a clearing up ahead but believed erroneously that the area in question was reserved for guests of a tented camp and not open to just anyone.

Storms River Mouth (Eastern Cape, South Africa)

April 9^th, 2011 (January 2011) – After leaving Addo Elephant National Park we headed south along the coast of Eastern Cape to the Storms River Mouth area. We spent two glorious nights camping right on the ocean and were lulled to sleep both evenings by the incessant crashing of the waves. Oh, how I do love that sound. We pitched our tent at the Storms River Mouth Rest Camp managed by South Africa’s National Park Agency (SANParks). Not even an abundance of other tourists can spoil that place (although the fewer the better).

The area is famous for the Otter Trail, a stunning five day/four night hike along the coast. Not doing this hike represents one of my biggest regrets in South Africa. Problem is the huts along the trail are booked long in advance and self camping is not allowed. When we inquired we were informed that there were cancellations and seven open spots for the following day. Unfortunately, we were not prepared to leave that soon as we had just purchased a lot of perishable food items and needed at least a day to ready our gear. In retrospect that was a terrible excuse. We should have just gone for it. That's all kinds of stupid dumb.

Luckily, however, anyone can do the first section of the trail that leads to a magnificent waterfall situated right on the ocean. We spent a few hours taking it all in. The place is simply incredible. And while I showered beneath the frigid waters of the falls while gazing out to sea I fully realized what a mistake it was to pass up the trail. At one point a dastardly sea bird pilfered our bag of nuts/raisins the moment we let our guard down. Dirty bastard.

At night we sat by the water along the jagged rocks sipping cheap and delicious South African wine while watching darkness slowly blanket the coastline. All this to the sound of ardent lesbians (it was someone’s birthday) raging like rock stars around the cabins behind us. They were having so much fun it almost made wish I was a lesbian.