We weren’t sure where to head next so we plumped for the option of least driving and set course for the Sundays River Valley. This is the same river as we stayed on in Colchester but further inland. We ended up staying at Avoca River Chalets on a farm somewhere near Sunland, and we did indeed get a gaff right on the banks of the river and a bargain at R550. In fact we were given an enormous cracking self-catering chalet with a large balcony area. Again the weather was sublime and we enjoyed listening to the birds, watching tree hyraxes, relaxing and catching up on chores. It was just what we needed; a comfy home from home. The most exercise we did was a quick stroll through the orange groves.
The rough plan was now to head to the wild coast and go back to Jo’burg through Kwazulu Natal. However, as we were literally passing by Addo we couldn’t resist driving through the park on our way. This time though it took us ages to find the elephants and we didn’t see them in the vast herds like the previous visit. We saw all the same antelope and this time there were hundreds of zebras. We relished watching the warthogs again and realised how much we had missed these comical creatures. No cats this time but we did spot another jackal. The first elephant we did see was taking a long drink while zebra and warthog pottered around too. Then a nearby rock started moving towards us – it was actually a leopard tortoise. One particular warthog took an interest and toddled over to give it a good sniff.
The overwhelming experience of the day was finally finding a meerkat, two in fact. We got to watch this most charismatic creature for about half an hour. It was ferreting out food and frequently stopping in typical periscope pose to search for danger. It only took a week and 4 national parks to find the little chaps.
