Addo

We went to Addo Elephant National Park today.

http://sanparks.org/parks/addo/

It was an amazing experience. I took lots of photos, but only had a couple to upload from my iphone. Seeing all the animals in their natural habitat was great. We may have seen nearly 100 elephants. Over 50 i'm sure. I loved the warthogs too. They seemed to have a great attitude. I bet I'm leaving one out, but we saw: Elephants, Zebras, Ostrich, Warthogs, Kudu, Water Buffalo, Mongoose, Red Heart Beast, Many Birds, Jackal, and Dung Beetles, but they were at the visitor center. 

The park was established in 1931. It was formed during a time when Afrikaner nationalism was emerging and other national parks were being created with a seemingly political agenda. (Coombes, 2003, p. 154). Some argue that the intention to establish national parks was to invent a reality where Afrikaners were by tradition nature conservationists. 

Over 80 years later, the park seems to have been very successful even if its initial creation may not have been pure at face value. Those issues seem to have all but faded into the background by my observations today.

Coombes, A. E. (2003). History after apartheid: Visual culture and public memory in a democratic South Africa. Durham: Duke University Press.