.: MENU visits the Karoo and the Garden Route 13. River Front Estate, Addo

The trip from Cradock to Addo was uneventful; the country is full of rolling hills rather than mountains. The N10 national road is good, but we must have had to pass at least 60 very large trucks and numerous smaller commercial vehicles on the way. As you approach, driving south, you drive over a very high pass called Olifantskop, which is apparently one of the most dangerous in South Africa - because of the high number of commercial vehicles and the sharp hairpin bends. The views from the top are magnificent and we understand that, on a good day, you can see the sea. We went up it very slowly, following trucks. Many of them are double-trailered ore trucks going to Port Elizabeth. They would have gone by train in the past but, apparently, Prasa, which runs the SA railways (incompetently), is not working with the mining companies, so our roads are flooded with these trucks

We arrived at River Front Estate at 12.30; a 15 minute drive from the main gate into Addo. We had booked in for 3 nights. After checking in, we went straight into Addo for the afternoon. Lisa Ferreira, the manager, told us about a short cut into the park; we used it. We didn’t book accommodation inside the park, although we had intended to, because the rates had been doubled from the previous month, which made it completely unaffordable for us. And apparently for many other people, as the Park now has plenty of vacancies and the good accommodation just outside is very full

Outside our cottage, a lovely show of California Poppies

Our spacious cottage overlooking the Sunday’s River was lovely, and the river was flowing

We had a stoep with chairs and tables and could eat outside when the weather played along. A visit already from one of the cats, appropriately named Fatcat. They seek out company. The first day was rather cloudy, windy and chilly in the evening. So Lynne made us a curry. The sunset was superb because of the clouds