July (^2019) caravansa.co.za | 27
TRAVEL
A BitoFhistory
the area up near Domkrag Dam and
the beginning of the Nzipondo loop
isrelativelyopenincomparisonto
largepartsofthepark.
early18thand19thcentury
travellersdescribedtheareathat
nowmakesuptheaddoelephant
Parkas“animpenetrablethorny
thicket”anda “huntershell”.
thankgoodnessfornaturelovers
- a largeproportionofthisdense
easternCapebushland has been
preservedforposterity.
Withtheadventofpeoplesettling
intheSundaysriverin the 1700s,
theivoryhuntingbegan in earnest.
In1786,anextensive loan
farmcalledDeGorawas granted
toCommandantWillem Kuuhn.
SectionsoftheDeGorafarm
nowforma largepartoftheaddo
elephantPark.
Clashesalsooccurredwiththe
Xhosapeopleasmorepeople
movedintothearea.thisled
tothethirdFrontierWarduring
1811/1812.themilitaryhadthe
jobofremovingtheXhosasfrom
addo’s“impenetrablethorny
thickets”.Hencethebuildingof
armypostsataddoDrift,Coerney,
Slagboomandrietberg.
thehuntingcontinued unabated
though.In 1837 it was reported that
nearly7 tonsofivory were exported
toPortelizabeth.
elephants in the park today. I decided
to come back to Hapoor Dam later that
afternoon. The helpful ranger at the gate
had told me if I allow myself 40 minutes
or so, I will make it back to the gate in
plenty of time.
Addo also has some 400 buffalo,
and I reckon at least 80 of them were
grazing around Hapoor Dam when I
arrived. I opened the window of the
Isuzu to photograph a lone Kudu bull
that grazed unperturbed some ten
metres from the bakkie.
A large elephant bull arrived just as I
was leaving for my comfortable warm
down duvet in campsite Number 20.
That night, snug in bed, I read some of
the notes I’d printed out prior to this trip.
It’s hard to believe but by the
1900s the elephant population had
been practically wiped out due to
growing conflict between the farming
community and the animals. So in 1919,
Major P.J. Pretorius was set the task of
shooting the remaining elephants.
Sometimes using a ladder to see over
the towering Addo Bush, Pretorius with
his huge .475 Jeffries Cordite Express
double-barrelled rifle shot 114 of these
magnificent creatures.
When he left the area in 1920 there
were only 16 elephants left.
This is when Colonel Denys Reitz
came to the rescue. Minister of Lands
at the time, he had the Strathmore and
Mentone Forest Reserve set aside for the
protection of the elephants.
To compress a book's worth of
information in a couple of sentences:
With the addition of the Kenmure
farm, Addo Elephant Park, some 2 000
hectares in size, was finally declared a
national park. The park now covers 1
640 square kilometres, and is the third
biggest park in South Africa.
The park has been expanded to
include the Woody Cape Nature
Reserve and a marine reserve that
includes St Croix Island and Bird Island.
Sadly, my short stay would only allow
me time in the northern section of the
park. There’s plenty to do in the park
and the surrounding area, so I set off for
a scout around a bit.