29 September 2022 Port Elizabeth South Africa: Cape Recife Lighthouse

Originally built in 1849, this lighthouse was placed here due to the large number of reefs found in this area.  The word Recife came from the Portuguese word for reefs.  Many ships over the centuries had run aground on these reefs.  It is 28 meters tall and the lights can be seen 29 nautical miles out to sea.  There is a fog horn and a radio beacon as well. The lighthouse is no longer manned and the buildings are fenced off.  It is part of a large nature reserve with 900 acres of protected sand dunes.  The dunes are tall and are covered with a thick layer of vegetation.  There are 9 km of trails and wooden walkways for folks to walk on.  In addition there are places to park and to grill food.  There is also a series of cabins right on the water for holiday makers called the Pine Lodge Resort.  We barged in on two different photoshoots!  Six inch heels and evening dresses in the sand dunes make for a weird contrast.

The dunes were 30 feet tall in the tallest spots

The walkways can be seen to the right and the left

Lots of prohibited activities.  So the motorcycle riding dog with scuba tanks is not allowed to shoot at tents around the campfire!

The radio tower is very tall

These fishermen were pretty far out into the water

Girls gotta get those high heels on

How does this picture frame thing work anyway?

That's better

The remains of a military observation post built in 1851 is visible to the left

A closer look at the observation tower

It is all locked up and no one is allowed inside

One photoshoot still going on and one photoshoot is over

Soon this building will be buried in sand

The dunes are tall indeed

Nice of the folks to put a label on it

Look what the tide chased in

A big egret or heron flew overhead as we were leaving

It has been 117 days since we began our Migration
 

27 September 2022 Addo Park South Africa: The Smaller Things

 

The smaller things include bugs, reptiles and plants.  Andrew had information on all of the things we saw, from the largest to the smallest bits.  Some plants were edible and were used for medicinal reasons and some were straight up poisonous.   The flightless dung beetles are specific to this area and they have their own special challenges.  The female makes the dung balls and the males don't help much.  All the males do is climb on top of the dung ball and try to impress the female.  If she approves she will mate with the male and then dig a hole, plant her egg in the dung.  She will stay with the ball and egg for a month or so until the new little beetle is hatched and ready to go.  Then she heads back out.  We saw two turtles, one soft shell and one hard.  They have another turtle that gets to be a meter in diameter but we did not see one of those.    

Our Exit

We have arrived!

Here we are to sign in proceed onward 

The infamous giant land snail

Milkweed seed pod.  Andrew told us of the prank he would play on hapless folks.  He would have them grab the seed pod and tell them that it is the Old Mans Balls

Our safari vehicle

One giant pile of Elephant poo and a puddle of pee.  A Bull elephant can push out 100 kg of poo per day!

The flightless dung beetle is the only dung beetle that can not fly.  It is probable due to the nature of the undergrowth.  It is too dense for a beetle to fly through.

Nile Henge Terrapin with some mud stuck to its shell 

A blast of color 

This angulated tortoise was speedy as he crossed the road

This plant, a Spekboom or Pork Bush. is an amazing plant.  It is edible and it can regenerate simply by pushing a branch into the ground and giving it a bit of water.  It can grow in soil that reached 70 C It is medicinal and is used to treat heat exhaustion, blisters, throat infections, pimples, rashes and sunburn. More amazing, it is a huge carbon sink it can sequester 2 to 5 tons of carbon per acre.  It pulls carbon dioxide out of the air day and night and uses the carbon in the leaves and stems.  

This is the Rhombic Sheep Biter Snake

The old timers thought that they would bite the sheep's udder and drink the milk.  I wonder what the old timers were drinking? 

It was in the middle of the road soaking up the sun

So Andrew decided to break the rules and scoot him off of the road.  It tried to bite him but he was faster than the fast snake.

All the bad weather was off in the distance by the coast.  Yet the sun was shining on us at Addo.

The new port an part of the salt works

The pinkish hue of salt being made 

It has been 115 days since we began our Migration

27 September 2022 Addo Park South Africa: Large Animals

 

The most abundant animals we saw in descending order were Red Hartebeests, Zebras, Elephants, Kudus, Warthogs and Jackals, Giraffe and Baboon.  We learned some cool facts about zebras.  They can thermo regulate by raising just their black stripes when they need to cool down.  The raised black stripes warm up and small vortices of air form at the boundary between the stripes thereby cooling off the zebra.  

The Hartebeest and a Warthog 

The Hartebeest was so named because the horn look like a heart when viewed head on

The dune fields can be seen in the distance

Each stripe pattern is unique.  The baby's imprint this pattern so they can find her in a crowd. 

The type of Zebras found here are Burchelle's Zebras.  The belly is big because Zebras are hind gut fermenters.  That is the way they digest.

Zebras have black skin.  So technically they are black with white stripes.  The further south in Africa you go, the wider the stripes get.

Time for a green salad

This Baboon was gone in a blink of an eye

Two Warthogs running across the street

Tail up!

Taking a break

A young Zebra has black, white and the shadow stripes that can be grey or brown

Baby Hartebeests

Warthogs laying low

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8FHkkka0q0

Lovely flowers blooming amongst the animals

A big male Kudu 

And the girls in his harem

Tail Wagging warmth of the sun 

Can you see the Jackal?

It is easier to see here

Find it again if you can

As we were leaving the park we saw two giraffe

A giraffe and his buddy

There was a game farm adjacent to the park and the owner has collected springbok with melanin issues

A little albino springbok

It has been 115 days since we began our Migration