30 November 2008

Life with Suzie - Addo

We decided to spend the weekend at the Addo Elephant National Park, but today's post is not about elephants, but more about taking risks.

We had just travelled from the Main Camp past Carol's Rest, on a quest for lions, when we came across the sign that said that the road was only suitable for vehicles with a high ground clearance. Suzie's Daihatsu Materia does not have a high ground clearance. Suzie on the other hand has a sense of adventure and does not mind the fact that he car does not have a high ground clearance.

"The road looks like it has just been graded," she said, "let's try it." I reminded her of her reluctance to drive on bad roads with her new car, but undeterred she drove past the warning sign and down the road.

The road had not been graded. "Oh well," I consoled myself, "someone with a 4x4 is bound to come down here at some stage today and if we ask them nicely, I'm sure they will tow us out."

As it turned out the road was not bad at all. a few rough spots here and there but nothing the valiant little car could not handle.

And then as we came down a hill we came across this Caracal lying at the side of the road, totally undeterred by our arrival. It was quite contented to pose for us.


You don't see these cats about every day. Caracals are nocturnal, secretive, solitary, and aggressive animals. Due to being hunted as a problem animal by farmers, the Caracal has become even more elusive and thus getting to see one is very difficult. This was a rare sighting for us and was truly the highlight of the the trip.

The moral of the story, take a risk you may be pleasantly surprised.

As you can see this little bus is not a 4x4.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

What an incredible shot!! Glad she didn't listen to you, and went down that road.

Tess Kincaid said...

Wow! Look at those ears! It is amazing what you can just drive around and see.

Adorable car, BTW! :^)

Firefly the Travel Guy said...

Hey! What are you doing out the vehicle taking that photo of the car? Something could catch you.

You guys were very lucky to have spotted this cat. They are even more elusive than the lions in the park.

As far as that road goes. I can't understand why they don't just fix it properly. My brother was in the park a sweek or so ago and also went down it. He also said that you can do it, but it should be fixed.

Max-e said...

Firefly that was taken in the southern area after we had exited the game area. Had you going though.

Unknown said...

Amazing ears. Looks like an elf cat, or maybe i just have christmas on the brain.

Donna M. Condida said...

Wow, beautiful cat - wonderful photo! I agree, sometimes taking a risk is well worth it.

Scott Jensen said...

that cat's ears are huge! that'd be sweet to have it tame and as a pet

Scott Jensen said...

that cat's ears are huge! that'd be sweet to have it tame and as a pet

Anonymous said...

Envy with your adventurous life....

Cheers!
jobs that require travel

Rose said...

He is a handsome animal!

Ashley said...

The picture of the cat is awesome..and I'm not a cat person...but I love this!

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Shirley said...

Thanks for the picture of the Caracal. I had never seen one before besides the occasional blur on the travel shows. It's beautiful!

natalie said...

wowee! what a totally gorgeous cat!
nat

tangobaby said...

That is an incredibly gorgeous creature! Wow! What an image.

emily said...

wow what a cool-looking cat!

Baruch said...

The caracal has such an awesome face. I recently watched a DVD on caracals which were taken out of captivity to live at Airforce base Hoedspruit .... priceless!!

The Ruminating Rocker said...

What a beautiful cat! I'd never heard of a Caracal before. Thanks for showing us!