February 19 - 25

19^th February.

On the long detour via Queenstown Anne worked with her tablet, which has got a SA Vodacom mobil/data SIM card, and found a lodge in a private concession of Addo Elephant Park, and we got a last minute offer for two nights at Gorah Elephant Camp, which means we hopefully are going to see animals - cats, black rhinos and elephants. We have earlier been in Addo NP without any interesting  sighting  of animals but we have just got an e.-mail from some good friends that  have visited the National Park 2 weeks ago and seen about 200 elephants drinking from a dam.

 

We arrived at the camp around midday, got our luxury tent, and went to lunch which was very delicate. By the way the camp is a member of Relais and Chateaux. 

Our tent

We got on the evening drive after a 4 o´clock tea, and saw many heartbeats, kudos, eland and even more warthogs - or pumba named from The Lions King. All super lion food. We were told that this park, SA`s 2^nd largest had only 3 female and 6 male lions. This after the park administration had exported 18 six month old lions to other reserves. Maybe because of fear of inbreeding? Who knows? But the result is a very big number of above mentioned spices.

suites-1

After a while it started raining and thundering. Anne did not like it, and we drove her back to camp and continued.
  

The park is also famous for its big number of elephants, and for having Black Rhino.  The latter is very difficult to see because there are not many left and they are shy and difficult to find. By the way rhino poaching figures for 2012 that 668 rhinos (mostly whites) were killed for their horns - up from 448 in 2011. The Kruger Park was was hardest hit by losing 425 rhinos.
During the 3 hours drive in fair overcasts weather mixed with fierce showers and thunder we saw buffaloes, elephants and dears, and towards the end we suddenly saw a Black Rhino 150 m. away And it was big. A moment later another came towards us, but have surely smelled us as it stopped. Then it started to rain, and both went back under the low bushy trees to get shelter.
  

We drove towards the camp as the the rain got more and more heavy. We had ponchos on, but with that amount of water in complete open Land Cruisers we were very wet when arriving for dinner in the camp.

They had lit the fire in the sitting room when we returned from getting dry clothes on, and we all got a drink before we went to dinner.

Anne had been in the main house, and seen around 200 buffaloes come to drink water from the watering hole in front of the main house. It had been a fine day, but a tough day.

 A herd of 200 buffaloes 50 meters from the living room

The next day the morning drive did not bring any exiting sights except 2 big male elephants. But it showed the beauty of the landscape of the park.  Huge areas of woods curving over the hills, mixed with grassland with grassing dears.

  

New guests arrived, and for the afternoon drive the two cars got filled. But Anne rightfully protested, we would not sit more than two on each row. I mean, on a lodge of this quality (read price), (although we had negotiated 50% discount on space availability terms) we meant we were on “business class”. After a few minutes Anne and I was asked to wait, and we got another car where we and the manager of the camp as our guide went on the evening drive.

And it was a very cosy drive, and we had a beautiful sun set from the highest point of the park, and when sipping our G&T a heard of buffaloes went around us and the car on their way to the camps waterhole. There we saw the heard 2 hours later in the dark.

In the night we heard Hyena calls just outside the tent. We could not see them, and we do not go out. But it sounded as if they were just outside.

At 6, just as we were to get up we heard a male lion roaring. He was not far away. The lions had come back. A few minutes later a female lion walked by the tents listening to the roar, and going his way. We got up, and after a cup of coffee and a muffin we went off in two cars to track the lions. We found the female lion, but she disappeared into the bush where we could not follow her. We never saw the male.

We did not find the Black Rhinos either, so at 10 we were back, had breakfast, changed and drove off to Port Elisabeth where we shall play golf tomorrow. 

22^nd February. 
We got installed on Hotel Garden Court Kings Beach, Tsogo Sun group, pensioners promotion (we like that hotel group -they really do something for us old people :-) ), 40€ incl. breakfast and indoor parking. We had a wonderful dinner (and very bad service for the first time in SA) on a nearby very hip restaurant in Port Elizabeth - Coachman on the Bay. Niels got oysters and after we had crayfish . A nice walk back to the hotel (5 minutes) and got early to bed.

In the morning we played Humewood G.C., the only true links course in S.A. (they say). Quite nice, windy but not very well maintained fairways, although rated as No 18. It was opened in 1929.

The clubhouse 
  

 The course

We drove off to the place we both wanted so much to go back to - St Francis Links - rated as No 9. St Francis is about 90 minutes drive from Port Elizabeth.
 

 

We have booked room in St. Francis Lodge, laying on the course. Top modern, well designed house, with many rooms for guest use, kitchen for light meals, honest bar, several furniture arrangements outside,  big TV /DVD and TV in all rooms. 

Here we are on hole 1

 The view from our room in the morning

 
St Francis is a beautiful little town - you have the St Francis Channel Houses, The Bay and The Port and the Estate on The Links) and all houses except for those in the port has to be in black and white and preferably with thatched roof. BUT maybe that will change because in November 2012 the village was hit by an enormous fire which with a very strong wind jump from house to house and 60 houses were burned down in the channel area. We went down to see the area and that was depressing. Its very expensive to insure a thatched house -  250 Euro pr month.

  Imagine 60 houses like this - quite depressing - there were 3 houses which were not insured

  

  

  A more relaxing view of the village

First day was very windy, but the course fulfilled all our expectations, it is just a fantastic course. So good, that we decided to stay an extra day.

The nature, Jack Nicklaus lay out, the people and the elegant clubhouse, and the lodge we stay in, makes this place outstanding. The houses around the course and in the village are all white with black roofs or black straw roofs. This makes the surroundings just very nice. The next two rounds we played in lighter wind, clear sun and 25 degrees. The results also improved.

Here you have some pictures from the golfcourse. 

Green 18 and the club house

 

On our last golf round at St Francis we met a Norwegian couple that have a house at the golf course. They invited us to their fantastic beautiful house (which you can rent) with the most stunning view for a sundowmner and here we also met another Norwegian couple who has a house here in St Francis Bay. After the sundowner we had a Monday evening dinner in the clubhouse - 3 courses for 8 Euro.