Day 36 - Addo Elephant Park

Woke up too late for a run this morning, so we packed up and hit the road. What must have been beautiful in their day... are a dump today! East London, King Williamstown and Grahamstown are not unlike Lydenburg, Tzaneen and Barberton! Even from a distance, they are a shambles!

Not having studied Mahatma Gandhi at all, one of his well known quotes, something to the effect that..."A nation can be judged, on how well they look after their animals", or whatever! The care for pets and livestock in the Eastern Cape, is diabolical. Unattended dogs, donkeys, cattle and pigs are free to roam and by-god, just take one animal out! The two agencies most unproductive in the EC must be Roads and the SPCA😥 The SPCA probably the least funded, if not at all. 'Road-kills', are common every day!😢This is how we roll in the EC. En route we encountered six (no Karen has corrected me … it was eight) Stop/Go’ roadwork diversions. All manned (by 2 women) on either end, one with a red flag and the other with a ‘Red Stop/Green Go’ button. Between each of these two ladies, absolutely nothing was happening! Not one worker, truck, grader or Bulldozer! Sure there were ‘Potholes’ by now sinkholes or even maybe Boreholes, as well as excavations in small patches…. but work happening, Zero! All that was in fact happening, was holding up Commercial Trucks, Holidaymakers and Taxi’s, all trying to grind the economy forward! Every start and end to these, if not frustrating enough, covered by litter, mainly ‘Blue Ribbon’ Bread plastic bags and empty Coca-Cola plastic bottles. The struggle is real!!!

Now I have for several days, been medicating an insect bite of some sort, right up there near the 'nether regions'! I doubt a Mozzy could get there, so probably a spider, tick or flea. Without the evidence of a dead body, it could be any of them. "Whatever it was" says Karen, "It either got that high up, it died of fright or just ran off laughing...probably the latter!" So funny!😖

As we arrived in Paterson on our way to Addo, we again encountered masses of airborne locusts, and I lie not.... millions! This again put Karen on the back foot and since has been ultra defensive, car windows up, and a squealing sound every time one slaps against the windscreen! Millions of them!!!🦗🦗🦗 X 1,000,000!!! Paterson also a ‘Shithole’ of Bottle stores laced together on the main road, licences no doubt all owned by the same one councillor!

Took a really stunning drive on a loop in the Addo park. Disappointing to have only seen a handful of Elephant, but so calm and content. Eating, I am not so sure what? All that is grass is shaved to ground level and all that is green is clearly non-edible, 'Spekboom'. All looks very lush from a distance but from close up it is all just 'Succulents'. Grasses cropped short by the million odd Locusts. The game we did see up close, was not skittish at all! Many Kudu, Red Haartebees, Warthog and Zebra, happily grazing next to the side of the road, a mixed diet of sticks and stones. A few dams do have water but in the main very dry. In our Caravan Park most of the large trees have died and only a few (including the drought resistant Spekboom) are still alive, providing skint shade.

Not having eaten a decent steak since leaving 'Yellow Sands' with Ray and Liz, we took to the 'Cattle Baron' in the Addo Main Camp and consumed liberally.

Since leaving the Ocean, I do so miss the background rumble!

Love, Peace and Light
M&K
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