Safari with highlights!

Our final destination in South Africa was Addo, just north of Port Elizabeth. We stayed on a citrus farm in a hand built clay and timber hut(obviously, all mod cons included, together with a few insects and as many oranges you could eat). From here we planned to go on Safari, a highlight of our time in South Africa. I was actually a wee bit nervous about the whole Safari thing, Mark stating he was cool and he actually thought one on one with many a Safari park had to offer there'd be no contest. His perception and mine were slightly different and I was worried he may have a "Frank" incident, particularly after I'd witnessed him stripping off next to an orange tree after I pointed out- gently mind, that he had a beetle on his shirt collar! He later revealed he wasn't too fond of "Creepy Crawlies" (but obviously against the big 5 I'd be protected!)
At Addo we hoped just to get a taste for Safari, Addo is an elephant park and not renowned for other game. It's home to 450 elephants so we were pretty much guaranteed to spot at least one of the big 5. Addo also has lions, rhino, buffalo and the very shy leopard, this though had only ever been spotted by a handful of locals so we didn't get too excited. As well as Addo we booked on a safari at a private game reserve called Schotia which was also home to the big 5 plus plenty more. Addo was amazing, the elephants were luckily very thirsty that day so when we headed to one of the many drinking holes we were pleased with the company. The adults were huge, the family obviously led by a female, she knowing best. We weren't surprised to see the teenagers hanging out away from the elders, they were busy being all moody and hormonal- the males actually start discovering naughty business at about aged 12, still a few yrs later than the average teenage boy! The calves were busy playing- pushing one another into the water and generally misbehaving, alot of fun to watch.
So we'd spotted the first of the big 5, still alive too! In my opinion the elephants appeared the most sociable, wise and fun loving of the big 5, any others were considered a bonus. We were however, lucky enough to also see buffalo, more scary but hey, with that nice hair do can anyone take them seriously?
After lunch we continued the search in Schotia. Here we saw giraffe, hippo, zebra and 2 more of the big 5- lion and rhino. Whereas the elephants were my favourite, the lion's were Marks- not least for their hair do's, even more impressive than Mr Buffalo. I could see him watching, all green eyed and comparing high lights and wondering when he needed his roots doing!
It was actually a scary moment when the lioness decided she didn't like the look of us, she circled our vehicle numerous times and we thought we could be dinner as she appeared to get ready to pounce. Thinking it was our bright yellow ponchos rather than Mark's roots, I was considering stripping down as demonstrated by Mark earlier with the insect incident but luckily she must of had a better offer, blaming the poncho we later discovered a lion only sees in black and white!
A great end to an amazing county, 4 of the big 5 plus many more amazing animals, I guess we'll just have to return to spot the leopard- shame. It's now time for Oz......