Wednesday, December 9

The "Painted" Elephants of Addo





Recently we had the most wonderful elephant encounter in Addo Elephant National Park.


Despite its name I never take elephant sightings for granted in Addo as it can be difficult to find them in the dense thickets that cover most of the Park.

However on this particular late morning in the last week of November we had an abundance of these stately mammals, in an array of earthly colours, enjoying the Harpoor waterhole.



I noticed this "painted" lady as she approached one of the muddy waterholes and she went ahead and gave herself a new coating of muddy water.......
 
 

 

However, she wasn't satisfied with the texture or colour of the mud so she then kicked vigorously to stir up a whole lot more......
 

Minutes passed, elephants moved on and then more came in. I lost count of how many elephant we saw in total.

Then this handsome bull came up the slope towards us and that muddy waterhole.....

He gave us a great demonstration of how a mud shower should be really done.
ahhhh, there's nothing that beats a fresh coat of paint / muddy water!

There were lots of other antics going on as well, of course......

Eventually and reluctantly we dragged ourselves away..........

After lunch, we went out again looking for more animals and came across another small herd of elephant, re-spraying from white to ochre .......


We didn't find the lion but I certainly got my elephant "fix" that day :)


9 comments:

Gaelyn said...

I could sit at Harpoor for hours, no days, maybe even weeks or months, watching the elephants. Great shots!

Coral Wild said...

Thanks Gaelyn. We only spent about 40 minutes at Harpoor and only our grumbling stomachs got us to leave!

Diana said...

I'll never forget my first sighting of an elephant all those years ago in Zim - "how embarrassing, Mum's brimming". Thanks, Sue, for all your posts. Have a lovely Christmas trip and a happy 2016. love Diana.

Coral Wild said...

I don't really have the words to truly describe how I feel about elephants Diana. I just know that I am incredibly lucky to be able to see them so often...

Unknown said...

Hi Sue. Thank u for the wonderful post. There are some amazing pictures there and what a wonderful experience to see it all. I tell everyone about our amazing trip. I miss it. Merry Christmas and a very happy 2016. Lots of luv xx Maureen. (Remember me?)

Coral Wild said...

Thanks Maureen for visiting and commenting. Of course I remember you- I hope you keep that brush close by ;)
Merry Christmas back to you!

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Coral - wonderful shots ... just amazing. Love seeing them ... and it's fun seeing their water antics ... all different ... Have a wonderful Christmas season - cheers Hilary

Coral Wild said...

Thanks Hilary :) Enjoy your Christmas too!

Unknown said...

Hi!It is pleasure to see muddy shower of Elephants.Thanks for sharing these wonderful pictures, and loved that Handsome Elephant.
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