When you mention Addo, most people think elephants. They wouldn’t be wrong though BUT, these days Addo is so much more than just elephants. Crisscross Adventures is a tour and adventure activity company based in the Sundays River Valley and they offer a wide range of activities from tours to the Addo Elephant National Park to quad biking, canoe safaris on the Sundays River and sand boarding. Check out their new promotional video and tell me you don’t want to go and explore and experience the valley after seeing it.
Tag: addo
Discover the Sundays River Valley and Greater Addo route
The brand new destination promotion video for the Sundays River Valley and Greater Addo area have recently been released by Addo Tourism and ECTOUR showing how stunning this area right on Port Elizabeth’s doorstep is. It also illustrates what I’vebeen saying for a while now, that Addo is a fully fledged destination now and so much more than just elephants. Please share it around on social media if you enjoy it.
Ziplining in Addo with Chasing the Rainbow
Follow the guys of Chasing the Raibow as they go zipling along the longest duel zipline in Africa. Right here in the Sundays River Valley at Sunland near Addo.
Pork passanger
We’ve all seen pictures (or in real life) of Red Bill Oxpeckers sitting on rhino, buffalo, giraffe or some of the other bigger animals. Taking a drive through Addo the other day I got to see a similar scene but it didn’t include a Red Bill Oxpecker nor a big animal. This time it was a Southern Boubou riding on a warthog’s back. Pumba has a new friend.
Buffalo portrait
I know I posted a picture of a couple of Addo buffs earlier on in the week, but I wanted to share this one with you as well. It’s nice when they look straight at you. Makes for great pics. Or I hope he was looking at me…
Pale Chanting Goshawk
One of my favorite birds to see in the Addo Elephant National Park is the Pale Chanting Goshawk. You normally find them perched on a bush like this scanning the surrounding area for prey.
Striped donkey portrait
This male zebra seemed to have had a run-in with something and was standing in the road in Addo’s southern section. He was probably feeling sorry for himself and nursed his wounds and standing in the middle of the road meant he could see any approaching predator coming a long way away. It also meant though that I got to stop right next to him and get a closeup portrait shot.
Addo Buffs
My quick trip through Addo last week didn’t produce a big amount of elephants as usual. I did get three separate Cape Buffalo sightings. When I started working as a tourist guide 18 years ago the Cape Buffalo sightings were very few and far apart. The Addo buffalo was basically nocturnal due to the hunting of big game that took place a hundred years earlier which lead to the buffalo starting to hide during the day and only coming out at night. This all changed when Addo introduced lions into the park and the buffalo’s’ behavior literally took a 180 degree turnabout. What makes the Cape Buffalo in Addo so unique is the fact that they are disease free. The majority of buffalo throughout South Africa suffer from bovine tuberculosis (BTB) so buffalo from a place like Addo is regarded as Black Gold and is very sought after at game auctions.
Big boy drinking
There is nothing wrong with drinking alone. Pity about the paparazzi audience…
Addo landscape
I was invited to the launch of the SPAR Kirkwood Wildsfees at the Addo Elephant National Park main camp yesterday and decided to take the scenic route through the park from Colchester. Back when I was a tourist guide I used to visit the park as often as 5 or 6 times a week at one stage. These days I don’t get to visit nearly enough and is probably lucky if I get the time to visit once or twice a year. An absolute crying shame if you ask me. Even though I only had about 2 hours in the park it was enough to wet my whistle for another longer visit soon. Just got to find the time though.
