July 2017 Holiday Day 3

Day three started with a visit by several cats at our cabin at Avoca. My mum fed them some biltong and the number of cat visitors grew significantly!

We had a quick walk around the farm in light rain where we enjoyed the view over the river.

We left for Addo but decided to stop for breakfast first, as the restaurant in Addo is quite pricey. We decided on the Rustic Coffee and sandwich bar, at the Hermitage station on the R336. BB and I decided on the muesli with fruit, yoghurt and honey, my mum chose the small English breakfast.

The little restaurant opened recently, it was an antique shop before.. Most of the antiques are still in the shop.

It is interesting to view all the old books, silver and collar boxes.

Breakfast came and I was worried when I saw all the grapefruit on top of the muesli, not a fruit I like. BB was less diplomatic and immediately asked what it was. I was surprised when the owner said it was a new type of orange, Cara cara. It is a red-fleshed naval orange and delicious! Oranges are quite acidic, but not this variety, it is really juicy and sweet.

After this lovely breakfast and pleasant chat to the owner, we departed to Addo. I was surprise at all the Irish names we saw on our way, but it was raining quite hard so decided not to stop for photo's.



Coffee shop well worth a visit

We entered Addo at the main gate and I had a quick glanced at the sighting board. Lions were spotted near the Domkrag dam, so we headed in that direction.

Our first sighting was a couple of mousebirds, cuddled up to combat the cold. Shortly after we saw a black-backed jackal, busy with a bone.

Muisvoels

We then spotted a pale chanting goshawk. We also spotted Buffalo, zebra, hartebees and kudu, but no lion.

Pale chanting goshawk

Hartbees and zebra

The Marion Baree waterhole offered a great sighting of elephants yet again. There were a few young ones in the group and they provided a lot of entertainment. The one was sitting like a circus elephant, trying to scratch his bum. They later teamed up in pairs and practised their charging skills.

We took a break at the Jack's picnic site, a lovely maintained spot.

Picnic site

Hapoor dam was full of action again. A zebra was scared of slipping and really approached the dam in all sorts of ways. Eventually he could quench his thirst.

We saw some cars above the Rooiwal dam and wondered was happening. The road was blocked and we patiently waited. Suddenly a spotted hyena appeared next to us. He looked rather battered and bruised, shame. There was a hole next to the road with puppies. We heard them but could not see them. It was getting late and we had to leave the park, happy with all the sightings.

Spotted hyena

We booked dinner at Avaco. This place is really a gem and I am surprised that I've never seen a feature on it in any travel magazine. They had guests from Peru looking at our citrus industry.

Dinner was a three course affair with soup and rolls, bobotie with roasted potatoes and carrots (no yellow rice!) and a citrus pudding as dessert. This was served at a beautifully set table with stunning fresh roses.