Addo Elephant National Park nice alternative to Kruger

Our tour group was 9 women plus Lee and myself; many were German speaking but most lived in the UK; we also had 2 Swiss, 1 Canadian and 1 Norwegian

The landscape here reminded me of Sonora, Texas where there was scrubby vegetation in a very arid region; I wasn't sure if Lee was napping or just lost in thought

Cape buffalo have few natural predators and are capable of defending themselves against (and killing) lions; the mud covering helps with thermoregulation, as well as providing sunscreen and removing parasites, or even soothing insects bites

The hadeda ibis is known for its loud three to four note calls uttered in flight especially in the mornings and evenings when they fly out or return to their roost trees; they are worse than roosters early in the morning!

Mountain zebra; Addo Elephant National Park is the third largest national park in South Africa and located near the city of Port Elizabeth

Female kudu; Addo is the only park in the world to house Africa's Big 7 (elephant, rhinoceros, lion, buffalo, leopard, whale and great white shark) in their natural habitat

Our campground had only one hotel room available (AC, private bathroom, comfy beds) and Lee let it be known that we wanted it; luckily, the others in our group seemed quite OK with camping

The gemsbok (South African oryx) are widely hunted for their spectacular horns that average 33 inches in length; these animals are mainly found around deserts and have been introduced into New Mexico

The leopard tortoise is the fourth largest species of tortoise in the world, with typical adults reaching 16 in and weighing 29 lb; a very long-lived animal, the leopard tortoise reaches sexual maturity between the ages of 12 and 15 years

Our campground had the largest jacaranda tree I'd ever seen; the UCLA campus is adorned with jacarandas and I always loved seeing them in bloom

Greater kudu; I guess some of the animals are used to safari vehicles and don't see them as a threat since this kudu didn't budge

Addo has roughly 50 endangered black rhinos although we didn't see any; lions and spotted hyena have recently been reintroduced into the park