At the entrance to Addo Elephant National Park a sign proclaims: "Dung beetles have right of way. Do not run over dung beetles or dung."
That was quite exciting - as well as a little unusual - because I was very keen to see one of the little beetles rolling its ball of dung.
Earlier in our South African trip, at Kwandwe Private Game Reserve, a flying dung beetle had landed on our ranger's hand during dinner, which got me excited, but then he explained that it wasn't the sort that goes dung-rolling.
At the national park, however, I seemed sure to be on a winner. On the road in a sign had advertised the Addo Dung Beetle guest farm. My guide book advised that Addo was the home of the flightless dung beetle. And the park's own entrance sign seemed to imply the beetles were so thick on the ground visitors had to be careful not to squash them.
Driving through the park I kept a sharp lookout for small balls rolling down the road. There was certainly plenty of dung. But no balls and no beetles.
Eventually I asked the driver of our game viewing vehicle where the dung beetles were.
"Oh they are all around," he said.
"There are lots of them everywhere. But you only see them when it rains."
Sadly, it was dry, very dry, so it was hardly surprising that we didn't see any dung beetles. I would have to make do with elephants instead. And warthogs.
The Addo Elephant Park has a lot of very complacent warthogs. In other places we had been the warthogs were skittish and hard to photograph. But here there were not only huge numbers of the animals but they seemed happy to lounge around and have their pictures taken.
At the first waterhole we came to half a dozen warthogs were happily drinking along with a couple of ostriches.
Our driver looked at them with a jaundiced eye.
"There are too many warthogs in this park," he said.
"They are everywhere. We have had to bring in extra lions and hyenas to get the numbers down. But they haven't done the job yet."
Next we slowed to allow a large tortoise to stroll casually across the road. Obviously tortoises have right of way here too.
Just round the corner a large pile of fresh dung - which we carefully avoided driving over - pointed to the presence of the park's biggest stars.
And, sure enough, in a clump of bushes beside the road, a large male elephant was busy tearing off small leafy branches and stuffing them in his mouth.
Our driver turned off the main road through the park on to a dusty track and suddenly we were right in the middle of a herd of elephants. A huge dominant bull, several big old mothers, lots of smaller young adults and a few cute youngsters.
As we watched them eating, playing and interacting our driver explained what a huge success story Addo is.
"When the park was established in 1931 there were only 11 elephants left. Now there are more than 450. There are six herds like this whose numbers range from as small as 20 to more than 80."
At the end of the track we came to a large waterhole where about 20 elephants, mostly youngsters, were playing in the water with several dignified elders supervising.
We were able to drive up quite close and watch as they splashed each other, rolled in the mud, disappeared under water with only the tips of their trunks showing, climbed on each other's back and generally had a great time.
As we enjoyed the spectacle our driver explain that bath time for elephants is completely different to bath time for humans.
"They don't want to get clean," he said, "they want to get dirty. Elephant skin is very thick and tough, but it is also very sensitive, so in hot sunny weather they need to smear it with a good layer of muddy sun block."
They looked pretty much like kids everywhere.
Round the edge of the pool, at varying distances, little clusters of other animals watched nervously, wondering whether to take the risk of sneaking up for a drink.
"They are worried that a lion might be hiding nearby," said our driver. "But today it is too hot so all the lions will be sleeping I think."
A family of Addo's over-confident warthogs finally did take the plunge. But the groups of eland, red hartebeest, kudu and bushbuck were still thinking about it when we left.
On the way back we passed plenty more elephants and ample supplies of dung but, disappointingly, still no dung beetles.
Just before the gate we pulled up to watch another tortoise who was absolutely sprinting down the side of the road.
"Going somewhere in a big hurry," said our guide.
"Must have a girlfriend waiting for him."
Maybe. But I hope he wasn't in such a hurry that he forgot to be careful where he put his feet.
After all, dung and dung beetles take priority in these parts.
CHECKLIST
Getting there: Qantas flies several times a week from Sydney to Johannesburg under a codeshare arrangement with South African Airways. South African Airways also has regular flights to Port Elizabeth.
Where to stay: The Elephant House is a marvellous B&B close to the gates of Addo Elephant National Park. Built in the style of an old farmhouse, it offers comfortable accommodation, great meals, excellent tours and, several times a week, displays of traditional dancing by a group of local students.
What to do: You can get information about the park at sanparks.org.
Further information: See the South African Tourism website.
View Addo Elephant National Park in a larger map
Jim Eagles travelled to South Africa as a guest of South African Tourism.
