Addo Elephant National Park

Pros & Cons

• Excellent elephant viewing
• Very accessible and easily combined with the popular Garden Route
• Good facilities and roads
• A variety of lodges and rest camps for all budgets
• Malaria-free
• Horse rides available for beginners and experienced riders
• The small park gets very busy in high season and school holidays
• Views of bordering farms diminishes wilderness appeal

Wildlife

Addo is a sanctuary for more than 700 elephants, which are the main attraction of the park. It is home to all of the Big Five including the elusive black rhino and over 400 Cape buffalo. Burchell's zebra, red hartebeest, greater kudu and yellow mongoose are spotted regularly. Algoa Bay here has produced sightings of both great white sharks and southern right whales.

• More about Addo Elephant Park's wildlife

Scenery

Addo encompasses five distinct vegetation areas: Albany thicket (dense woodland), fynbos (fine-leaved plants), forest, Nama Karoo (dry shrubland) and Indian Ocean coastal belt. The characteristic vegetation of the main area open to tourists is Albany thicket, which is dominated by spekboom (literally ‘bacon tree’), a low-growing succulent shrub that forms the main food for the elephants.

Weather & Climate

Unlike in most other parks elsewhere in South Africa, the summer rainfall (October to April) at Addo doesn’t entirely cease in the winter months (May to September). It just diminishes, along with the heat. In fact, the midwinter nighttime temperatures can sometimes drop to freezing.

• More about the weather and climate

Best Time to Visit

To avoid the crowds and increased prices of the park’s high season, not to mention the heavier rainfall, visit during the drier months (May to September). You will need to bring your warmest clothes to deal with the low temperatures on early-morning game drives. But at least the elephants and other animals will be easy to find, being needy of the local waterholes. In the wetter months, the wildlife disperses among the park’s thick vegetation.

• More about the best time to visit

Want to Visit Addo Elephant NP?

• Addo Elephant safaris and tours
• Tour operators for Addo Elephant