Today is the day that I didn't go to the elephant park. Specifically, the park I didn't visit was Addo Elephant National Park between Grahamstown and Port Elizabeth. According to my guidebook, a Major P.J. Pretorius was charged in 1919 with the task of eradicating all the irritating pachyderms in the area. He did his best but, fortunately, failed. In a bizarre twist, Pretorius himself then initiated the establishment of the elephant park in 1921 to protect the remaining animals. According to the taxi driver who took me to Cape Town airport, Addo is the place I should have been visiting this week instead of the archives, but sadly the baby elephant picture will have to do as a poor substitute.
What I really did today was very much the same as yesterday, with a bit more sunshine and a burger instead of a steak. My list of 'things to look at' in the library is still worryingly long, and with only three days left to tick everything off, it rather looks as if those elephants are going to have to keep carrying on without me.