On Wednesday (after finishing two grueling history exams) I headed off to Addo Elephant National Park, which is about an hour away from campus.
Addo is the third largest national park in South Africa, and the park has grown to conserve a wide diversity of biodiversity, landscapes, fauna, and flora.
The original elephant section of the park was proclaimed in 1931, when there were only 16 elephants. Today, the sanctuary is home to over 550 elephants, lions buffalo, black rhino, spotted hyena, leopards, and a variety of antelope and zebra species.
After waking up bright and early, we drove about an hour and headed into the park! Here are some of the pictures from our adventure!
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| Right off the bat, we were driving down the road and came across two lions laying in the middle of the road. Our guide was freaking out because there are only 9 lions in the entire reserve and it is extremely rare to see them to begin with, let alone two. We drove up closer and I rolled down my window (which not everyone in the car enjoyed). It may have been the coolest thing in the world to have a lion less than two feet from me. It is crazy because I definitely underestimated how large lions are. This was one of the highlights of the trip! |
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| Beautiful landscape! |
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| We then headed off to an animal sanctuary. The sanctuary is home to animals that have been rescued from abuse or neglect. There were snakes (big scary ones like black mambas, pythons, and a cottonwood), monkeys, wildcats, vultures, owls, and various other animals. |
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| Jenna, Gemma, Lauren, Myself, and Kirsten |
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| The watering hole was pretty quiet |
It was truly a spectacular day! Getting to see nature's wonderful creatures so close and personal was something that I will never forget!
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