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Addo South Africa, Baby Elephants life doesn't get much better., cow and calf elephants, elephants at Addo in South Africa, The Complete Book, www.surreyKitchen.com
Cow and calf at Addo in South Africa
I would like to say a huge thank you to Mandy at The Complete Book for treating us to a guest post on my most favourite animal of all – the elephant. Mandy lives in South Africa so she has been kind enough to take some beautiful photos of the baby ellies at Addo for surreyKitchen’s readers to enjoy. Please check out Mandy’s blog if you want to learn more about cooking and South Africa.
The lovely Emma over at Surrey Kitchen asked if I would do a guest post on her favourite animal, the elephant and even though she has visited South Africa, she never got to see any babies so I set out to share as many babies as I could find in our park in the Eastern Cape; Addo Elephant National Park.
Do pop over to Emma’s blog to see a few adorable pics of some baby ellies and some fun facts too.
Addo, as always, did not disappoint and I thoroughly enjoyed clicking away and have included a few previously taken photo’s too. 🙂 Emma, hope you will one day be able to return to South Africa and see all the precious little babies for yourself.
I have scattered a few elephant facts amongst the pictures for you to teach little Alice when she gets older. 🙂
♥ An elephants gestation period is 22 months
♥ Cows usually give birth to one calf every two to four years
♥ At birth, elephants weigh around 90kg and stand about 1 meter tall
Baby Ellie – too cute!
♥ Baby ellies suckle their trunk for comfort in the same way humans suck their thumbs
♥ A newborn consumes around 11 litres of milk a day
♥ A herd will travel at the speed of the baby elephants
♥ Elephants live on average up to 70 years of age
♥ Elephants have no natural predators
♥ Elephants flap their ears to cool themselves
♥ Elephants can hear each others trumpeting calls up to 8km away
♥ A female elephant is called a cow and a male is called a bull
All photos by Mandy at The Complete Book
♥ The African elephant has the best sense of smell in the animal kingdom
♥ Elephants sleep on their feet for approximately 2 to 3 hours a day
♥ An adult elephant consumes up to 300kg of food and about 160 litres of water a day
♥ The elephant’s closest living relative is the rock hyrax, a small furry mammal
Addo
♥ Contrary to popular belief, elephants do not like peanuts
Miles would like to say a huge thank you to Mandy for his invite to South Africa for respite from baby Alice but he hears the cats out there are a bit bigger than him!
xxx
Emma, thank you for the great opportunity to do a guest post on your wonderful blog. My Pete is home for a few days so we popped into the park again today, no baby ellies but we were graced with the 3 cheetah brothers who if you will believe actually broke into the park! They are extraordinary to see so close – what an honour! Miles would have loved a wee chat with the cats in the park today.
Have a beautiful evening and looking forward to chatting wit you soon again.
Hugs to darling baby Alice.
🙂 Mandy xoxo
Miles would have had a cow if he’d seen those cats. Lol! My husband was very jealous you saw Cheetahs. We didn’t manage to see any when we were on safari but we did get to see wild dog which we were told was very rare. Thank you for the wonderful ellie post. I have to get out to South Africa again soon. My husband and I fell in love with your beautiful country. Emma xx
Beautiful Ellies photos as usual, Mandy. Thanks for the ellies facts, did not know baby elephants suckle their trunk for comfort.
Thanks so much Norma! Animals never cease to amaze me. Have a beautiful day. 🙂 xo
Neither did I. Elephants wonderful creatures. I look forward to checking out your blog and I hope you will visit surreyKitchen too. Best wishes. Emma.
Hi Norma, I meant to say if you would like to guest blog for surreyKitchen one day as Mandy has done then please get in contact. I would be happy for you to write about anything you feel our readers would enjoy. Take care. Emma.
AHHHHHHH, so sweet. I just adore elephants. Such gentle, majestic creatures.
I also adore you, Mandy. And I just Looove Miles, the Cat!! How adorable! xx
I adore you Kim! I would love to share the park with you in person. What an adventure we would have.
Sending you lots of love from a chilly Sundays River.
🙂 Mandy xoxo
I am glad you enjoyed the post Mandy kindly did for surreyKitchen. Miles says hello. He wants to tell you the blog is really all about him! Lol! I look forward to checking out your blog and hope you will visit surreyKitchen again soon. Emma xx
Hi again,
I meant to say if you would like to guestblog one day for surreyKitchen as Mandy has done then please get in contact. I am happy for you to write about anything you feel our readers would enjoy and I’m sure Miles would enjoy appearing on your post. Lol! Best wishes. Emma.
Such amazing creatures. Makes me want to go to Africa or India!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the post Tracey. It was great fun working with Mandy. I adore elephants and was lucky enough to visit South Africa last year. Take care and i’ll check out your blog soon. Hope to see you at surreyKitchen again. Emma.
Amazing how different our African and the Indian Elephants are to each other. Thanks for stopping by Tracy. Have a wonderful day.
🙂 Mandy xo
Hi Tracey, I forgot to say if you are interested in writing a piece for surreyKitchen as Mandy has done the please get in contact. I am opening up surreyKitchen to guest bloggers as Mandy’s post has been so successful. You can write about anything you feel our readers would enjoy. I look forward to checking out your blog. Best wishes. Emma xx
Elephants are just the most wonderful creatures!
It is such an honour to be able to get up close to them and be with them.
Have a wonderful day Teresa.
🙂 Mandy xo
They are indeed. I’m glad you enjoyed the post Teresa. I hope you will visit surreyKitchen again soon. It’s been great working with Mandy. Emma.
Hi Teresa, I forgot to say I am opening up surreyKitchen to guest bloggers. If you would like to write a post as Mandy has done one day then please get in contact. I am happy for you to write about anything you feel our readers would enjoy. Just an idea. Best wishes. Emma xx
Love all the facts that you included 🙂
I am glad you enjoyed the post Tandy. Hope to see you again at surreyKitchen son. It was fun working with Mandy. Best wishes. Emma.
Tandy. I meant to say I am opening up surreyKitchen to guest bloggers. If you are interested in writing a post for surreyKitchen one day like Mandy did the please let me know. I am happy for you to write about anything you feel our readers would enjoy. Best wishes. Emma xx
Thanks Tandy!
Have a beautiful day.
🙂 Mandy xo
Baby Ellies are the best! Thank you for sharing!
Baby Ellies are absolutely adorable!
Have a great day.
🙂 Mandy xo
I am glad you enjoyed the post. I’m opening surreyKitchen up to other food bloggers to guest blog. If you are interested please let me know. You can blog about anything you like that you feel readers might find interesting. Mandy’s elephant post has been great fun as you can see. Best wishes. Emma xx
That’s very nice of you Emma to offer that! After our busy summer is over I am sure I can find something for your readers. I’ll get it touch when I am ready to guest blog, thanks!
Theres no rush. After the summer is fine. Take care. Emma xx
Imagine carrying around a 100kg foetus! And then giving birth to it! I love elephants and your photo of the mother and baby is gorgeous. I didn’t know they have the best sense of smell in the animal kingdom! xx
And carrying the foetus for 22 months no less Charlie!
Have an awesome day./
🙂 Mandy xo
I’m so glad you enjoyed the post. I have a nine week old baby so I understand what you mean about carrying around a 100kg foetus. Poor mummy elephants! Lol! My baby was 8lb 7oz and we had a traumatic delivery ending in failed ventouse then forceps. If you would like to guest blog some time for surreyKitchen like Mandy did please let me know. I look forward to checking out your blog too. Best wishes. Emma.
I love the little baby hairs on the baby elephants. They are so sweet but oh my goodness 22 gestational months, poor mama!!!! Thanks for sharing the fun facts Mandy and nice to meet you Emma.
Lovely to meet you too. I am opening up surreykitchen to guest bloggers. If you would like to write a post for our readers one day as Mandy has done then please let me know. I look forward to checking out your blog. Best wishes. Emma.
So cute!! Love love love elephants 🙂 x
They are such a joy to watch Elaine.
Have a wonderful day.
🙂 Mandy xo
And you 🙂
I was lucky enough to visit South Africa two years ago and I cried when I had to leave the elephants. They are my favourite animal in the world. Emma xx