Day 08 - Addo Park to Citrus River Camp

Date: 2025-04-14
Departure From: Addo Elephant National Park
Departure Time:  08h30

Weather: 
Overcast with blue patches of sky
Departure Temperature:  17C
Peak Temperature: 29C

Trip Summary:

Before leaving the park, I said goodbye to Marek and Carla.  I was in two minds whether I should drive past my parents old farm, Hermiston, because the last time I drove past in 2015, the place was looking sad and all the citrus trees were dead.  I took a tour of the Addo village and barely recognized the place - I was not impressed.  When I got to the old farm entrance it looked completely different.  The main farm house had been transformed into a beautiful lodge called Crislin African Lodge.  The dead trees had been pulled out and new trees planted.

From Crislin African Lodge, I joined the R336 to Kirkwood.  After about 6km, the first Stop / Go occured as they were busy improving the tarred road from Hermitage to Kirkwood.  From Sunland I took the back farm roads to avoid the Stop /Go's  and joined the R336 at Dunbrody.  The gravel farm roads were really dreadful, but still worth the detour.  It was nice to see the tar road through Kirkwood had been re-tarred and made the town look a hell of a lot better.

I stopped at Spar to stock up before heading for the Citrus River Camp.  I was the only vistor and could select the best camp site.  My top priority was laundry as the next opportunity for laundry would probably be Jeffrey's Bay.  The laundry machine was very manual and I had to wait for each cycle to end.  I therefore setup my office and continued with my WEB site update.