Camping at Addo Elephant Park

This year in January, we went camping for six nights in Addo Elephant Park. This was going to be our last holiday before our third child was due in early April.

We needed somewhere to camp that was child-friendly for our girls and with at least some comforts for a pregnant mom - electricity and hot water were essentials. We arrived in the park in the afternoon and began setting up our tent. It started to rain! We also soon realised that we forgot to pack a hammer. Luckily, we were able to borrow a mallet from the people on the site across the road and firmly knock our pegs into the gravel.

The rest of the trip was fantastic. The girls played on the jungle gym, swam in the pool and enjoyed the many close-up sightings of elephants and other animals and their young. They also loved looking for dung beetles. During the afternoons, we even had time for some "tea" on our tent stoep. At nights we plonked two exhausted girls on their stretchers and savoured a hot cup of coffee while listening to hyenas and lions in the bush. At the end of this holiday we felt relaxed and ready to take on the challenge of a new year and a new baby; well, as ready as you ever are!

Tamar Levin