Homestead B&B and Caravan Park is just a few minutes away from the Addo Elephant Park entrance gate.  The site provides excellent shade and the ablutions and facilities are adequate and clean.  We paid R200 per night.   If you can’t get into the Addo Rest Camp this is an excellent alternative.  They also have Bed and Breakfast facilities.  I forgot to take photographs but rest assured it is great!
We set off for a game drive at about 3:30.  What a great afternoon we had.   The weather was stunning – clear skies and quite hot.   It was great to see plenty of the game grazing on the hillsides and in the veld. There is no shortage of warthogs, red hartebeest, kudu and zebra.  And it’s certainly the place to go if you want to see elephants.

We found that most of the animals were in the South of the park and that the elephants had spread out and could be seen at most of the waterholes.   In the heat of the day they were enjoying themselves in the red muddy holes along with their little friends the warthogs who seem so tiny when seen right next to these gentle giants.

We left via the South Gate and then had a long drive back to camp but it was worth it.  On the way we found a number of delightful birds.

The evening was warm enough to sit outdoors without a jacket and we enjoyed a braai of ostrich steak and sausage.

We were up before six the next morning and in at the gate by 7.  Unfortunately when you are a day visitor you may only enter at 7 so miss the early 6 o’clock opening to the game area.

It is definitely better to stay in the park as you can then easily go back to your camp for a break in the middle of a hot day.   We took our breakfast break at Jack’s Picnic Site which is named after Jack the Black Rhino who was one of the first to be brought to Addo. He was kept in the enclosure which is now the picnic site. It has a security gate and well looked after, clean ablutions.  The picnic areas are also secluded and shady.

The bokmakierie is a common resident in the park and showed himself to us quite a few times.

At lunch time we went to the Cattle Baron in the Rest Camp   The food was good. I had a chicken salad with a generous amount of grilled chicken strips, greens, tomato and avo and Earl had seared chicken and Camembert with a salad which was delicious.   Cost – Around R190 altogether including a glass of wine and 2 beers.

Before lunch we came upon a traffic jam and were told that there was a lion under a tree – I managed to glimpse it but encouraged Earl to move on and come back later as all it was going to do was sleep for a few hours and it was not worth fighting for a good viewing spot.

When we returned at about 4ish we saw elephants at the nearby waterhole and quite a few cars were parked watching them.   Suddenly Earl called – “There’s the lion,” and toward the elephants a lion stealthily crept.

 

Lions will not drink at the waterhole alongside ellies as they’re afraid of them – for good reason.   She soon dropped down behind a bush and then we spotted two others.  The elephants were well aware of them and some decided to leave but two remained for ages.  One of the younger lions quickly came down and took a few sips and then ran off as fast as she could.   We thought she might grab an unsuspecting warthog but he saw in in time and ran for his little life.

We left the park at about 5 and it was a short drive to camp.   The evening was even hotter than the previous night so we once again sat outdoors in shorts and t-shirt.  Quite a difference from our evenings at Warmwaterberg and Buffalo Bay!

We packed up to leave early this morning with the intention of a stop-over at George or Gouritz but we decided in the end to press on and arrived home at half past three.  It was a good week away!