The beautiful wildlife of Addo National Park and Schotia Game Reserve

It is unreal how many animals we saw today.  We got close to elephants mud bathing, swimming, and eating.  And we spotted at least one-hundred elephants throughout the morning in Addo National Park.  Lions were hot for one another, lazing around, and even eating a brushbuck (small antelope) on the final open-air night safari.  Hippos kept cool and away from the bugs in the water by day and grazed by night.  The clouds stacked fluffily on one another over the hills where giraffe leisurely fed.  After a beautiful dinner of kudu and eland (the two largest antelope in Africa) roast over rice, mushroom sauce over potato, carrots, peas, and homemade ice cream with from-scratch chocolate sauce, the sky opened up to a gorgeous display.  I was treated with a shooting star within the first minute of gazing.  What a day to remember.  Please enjoy the photos, as they will do plenty of talking in their own.  All of them are taken by one of my flatmates or myself from a bus or open-air safari vehicle.

The sweet thorn bush

Giraffe at Schotia

Mother with her five lion cubs!

Head honcho.  He's really good at "conserving energy."

defense tactic

Tall Australian conifers surround citrus fields to act as a windbreak.  The mountains are beautifully obscured in a blue mist topped off with fluffy clouds.

Taylor and I tried our chances climbing (and dismounting) a tree at Addo National Park.

Flatmates at Addo (Taylor, Me, Laura, Heather, Katie)

Horny Wall

Addo National Park all behind me!

The first elephant of the day was spotted only about 10 minutes into our drive.  He is a lone, teenage bull who is particularly dangerous because he is musking right now.  He was leaving scent as he walked.

The same bull.

A reflection in a human-made watering hole that helps to relieve the animals in years such as this when the drought is estimated to be the worst in 88 years.

This is how close the next herd came!

The second-smallest one. 

Pals

Mama and baby.  Elephant mothers have a lot of time to get to know their young in the womb since gestation time is 22 months.  Ufftah!

The dirt acts as a sunscreen for elephants' extremely sensitive skin.

The baby was scared because many cars were around, so it's mother showed it how to cross the road safely.

A young elephant right before dusting itself.  Elephants constantly wave their ears to cool the veins and other vasculature behind their ears.  They don't have sweat glands so dirt and mud help to keep the sun from heating their skin directly.

A herd of blue wildebeeste at Schotia.

Zebra (z-eh-bra; NOT a long e) and impala antelope.

Heather, Taylor, and I at the front of the vehicle.

Baby

Baby suckling

This male lion (5) has been trying to get this female lion (2.5) into estrus for over a week.  The lioness is getting very irritated because he follows her everywhere and some other groups even got pics of him trying to mount her.  But, she quickly puts him in his place with a swift slap in the face.

The same pair

Same ones again.

A white rhino.  This pair is in the half of the park fenced off from the lions so they can mate.  In 1960 all but 40 white rhinos had been poached for their horns which were ground and used as a supplement for men, but are no longer in high demand since the entrance of Viagra onto the market.

That one used the car as a rubbing post.

Ducking for thorny branches.  There are trees called sweet thorns that have pointy, poisonous thorns that are 2''-3'' long. They are evolutionarily advantageous for plants exposed to so much sunlight because the thorn cannot dry out and fall off like a broad leaf which soaks up a lot of sun.

Adorable warthogs.  Pumba, how I love thee.

There are four piglets here, which is the maximum because the mother only has four nipples.

The same two rhinos as before.  There are only two in the park and they have been together for almost three years and have not produced a little one, so the park may be looking to trade one of them off.

This is a nyala antelope.  It looks pretty bleached out by the sun here, but it is a really gorgeous animal.

A fun ride.

Monkeys

The warthogs were everywhere!

The five-year old male.  We saw his dad eating a brush buck after dark.

The lioness was paying attention to some zebra that might have served as lunch, but the male was behind her.  He was still only interested in one thing.

View from the table.  We sat under an overhang with tables radiating out from a clump of trees.  It was a beautiful set-up with white tablecloths, white dishes, and candles.