Had a great day out and about in Port Elizabeth on Saturday when we did a Big 7 Tour for Annamarieke and her mom Irene from Holland.
We joined Raggy charters for the morning on the calm waters of Algoa Bay where we were heading for St Croix Island and the penguin colony when I spotted a huge plume of water from a breaching Humpback whale. The whales have been quite scarce recently so it was brilliant news to have a whale sighting on the trip. The Penguins were great as always.
Then on the way back we received a tip off that there were dolphins off Pollock Beach (can anyone tell me who Pollock was and why the beach was named after him / her). We duly arrived offshore of the P.E. beach front where a few hundred Bottlenose Dolphins were playfully entertaining both the beach goers on the shore, the surfers and swimmers in the water and us on board our boat just behind the breakers. Really wonderful to see this amazing sight from the sea looking at the shore with all of the familiar landmarks in the background. Something Good, Pollock beach, Radisson Blu, Pick ‘n Pay all clearly visible with the Dolphins in the foreground.
Port Elizabeth can indeed proudly proclaim to be the Bottlenose Dolphin capital of the world. After a great lunch in the harbour we went on to the Addo Elephant National Park where we were lucky to have brilliant sightings of Elephants big, medium and tiny. Herds of Buffalo and Lions, a bit far off but on a kill and of course many different species of birds, animals and reptiles to keep the excitement going. The “Big 7” what an absolutely, amazing and unique way of viewing and appreciating natures huge bounty in this beautiful part of the world.
Words and Photographs by Alan Fogarty
