Addo Adventures with Mosaic Tourism
ShowMe Port Elizabeth was recently invited to join Mosaic Tourism’s Craig Duffield on one of his highly popular Addo Adventure Tours – and we were not sorry!
Make no mistake, we have quite a bit of experience and accumulated knowledge when it comes to South Africa’s National Parks and Private Game Reserves, and our game spotting abilities have become legendary amongst friends and family, but this experience definitely ranks in our top 5 most favourite to date!
Craig’s knowledge of and passion for Port Elizabeth and surrounds, and in particular the Addo region, is quite something.
As we drove onto the Settlers Highway from the beachfront, Craig gave us a very insightful and sometimes disturbing history of some of the famous, or should we say infamous buildings visible from our vehicle. There was the story of Steve Biko’s torture in one particular building that stands derelict to this day, which was of great interest, and definitely thought provoking for ourselves and our overseas companions.
Continuing on towards Addo, Craig touched on the history of the racial segregation of the bathing beaches along the Blue Water Bay coastline. He gave us some background on the Coega Industrial Development Zone, and a very interesting outline of how the natural fauna in the area was hunted excessively – to the extent that the Addo Elephant Park opened with only 11 elephants left in the area.
According to Craig, the park initially had no fences, and the rangers had to get creative when it came to keeping the elephants inside!
Even more amusing is the fact that when fences were eventually erected, there were some Buffalo trapped by accident inside the Park, and this has led to Addo boasting the largest herd of disease-free Buffalo in the country today!
Once inside the Park, Craig’s love of and open respect for nature, and his passion for sharing this with his guests, became apparent.
He openly admitted that he visits Addo on his days off, just to observe and gain a deeper understanding of the animals, insects, reptiles, birds and plant life that make up the fascinating biome diversity that is indicative of the area.
We were informed that there had been lion sightings that morning, and that he would do his utmost to ensure that we were able to view some of the Big 5 during our visit, but that he would be happy to stop for anything that caught our eye – even Dung Beetles!
And so the day progressed, with the cloud cover ensuring that the animals were out and about, we were able to enjoy some excellent sightings of Elephant, Buffalo, Zebra, a variety of antelope, Warthog, beautiful birds and our all-time favourite, the Dung Beetle!
As Craig says, “often the difference between a sighting and an excellent sighting is the waiting”!
Craig stopped for lunch at the Main Camp, where we were able to freshen up, buy some memorabilia at the boutique shop, and enjoy a delicious meal at the Cattle Baron Restaurant. Don’t be fooled by the name, the menu offers something for everyone – from light salads to hearty stews, and everything in between.
He then treated us to a short tour of The Ulwazi Interpretive Centre, where we learned more about how Elephants can communicate over vast distances, what a park fence is made up of, the structure of different animal skulls – including dentition, horn shapes and composition, and the history of the park, as well as that of its most notorious and legendary dominant bull elephant, Hapoor!
The remainder of the day was filled with more incredible sightings and spectacular views of the area – especially from the Zuurkop Lookout Point, where you are able to exit your vehicle, and gaze out over the Park and the surrounding Zuurberg Mountain Range – a truly breath-taking experience.
If you are an aspiring photographer, then this is a tour you will not want to miss. Craig is an avid wildlife photographer, and has captured some inspiring moments over the years. He encourages his guests to take the time to get that perfect shot, so you really can practice your skills with the camera whilst in his company. You can find most of his images on the Mosaic Tourism website, or shared on their Facebook page.
There is no doubt that we will be back for more, and would highly recommend that you book an Addo Adventure Tour with Mosaic Tourism. Craig is a very talented tour guide and a constant source of valuable information. His tenacity when it comes to getting you in front of as many species of both fauna and flora as possible is to be admired, and just adds so much to the overall experience.
Visit Mosaic Tourism on ShowMe Port Eizabeth for all their details
To view the full gallery of images from our tour of Addo – CLICK HERE