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Write a User ReviewElephants up close and personal
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number of greater kudus, many of which possessed truly spectacular spiraled horns. We also had a few sightings of spotted hyena and back-backed jackal in the vicinity if Domkrag Dam. Conspicuous birds included Denham’s bustard, black-headed heron, pied starling, southern boubou and Cape longclaw. If one bird species is emblematic of Addo, though, it would be the bokmakierie, an endemic, atypically non-secretive and pretty bush-shrike with mostly yellow feathering and a habit of calling loudly from open perches.
South Africa’s premier park for elephant-watching
Thanks to rapid expansion in recent years, Addo is South Africa’s third largest park after Kruger and the Kgalagadi. The total 1640-sq-kms encompass large bush areas as well as fragmented pockets of varied habitats, from woodlands in the Little Karoo to sand dunes along the Indian Ocean. Like most visitors to Addo, I’ve always seen elephants in the principle game-viewing area around Main Camp thanks to flat bush, waterholes and pans—one time a magnificent herd of more than 100-strong splashing around in their morning bath. Main Camp’s underground hide overlooking a waterhole is another great vantage-point too. Cape buffalo, zebra, and antelope are common, lion and spotted hyenas are occasionally seen, and look out for the curious flightless dung beetle. Also explore the other distinct regions for their different habitats and animals – for example black rhino are present in the Darlington area, while the Sundays River in the Zuurberg section is home to hippo. An all-year-round park, Addo is ideal for novice game-watchers and children, and of course all elephant-lovers.
Huge herds of elephants and much, much more
It’s about time that Addo changed its name, not for any lack of elephants (the park started out as an elephant sanctuary, their numbers now exceed 550, and I’d be amazed if you didn’t see several herds during your visit), but because there are so many other species here, too, from endemic flightless beetles to hyenas, black rhinos and leopards.
I love the great variety of habitats and activities on offer here, including wildlife-watching on horseback, and there’s even more more in the pipeline. Already a Big Five park and the third largest protected area in South Africa, Addo is growing – there are plans to expand its coastal section into a marine reserve. That will, of course, make it a Big Seven park, six and seven in this instance being great white sharks and whales.
The fact that Addo lies within a malaria-fee region is a tremendous bonus. If your stay in South Africa includes the Garden Route or Port Elizabeth, you’d be crazy to miss out on Addo, even if you only have time for a quick day-trip.
Breathtakingly Close Encounters with Elephants
It was grey and drizzling on my most recent visit to Addo, and hopes were not high at spotting much. What followed were the three most exhilarating elephant sightings I’ve ever had. It’s pretty much impossible not to see elephants at Addo. They amble down the dirt roads in herds. They congregate at water holes to frolic and sip. They stop in the middle of the road, halting traffic for a while until drivers pluck up the courage to inch by, passing so close a passenger could easily reach out to touch a wrinkly knee. On paper, the park is home to the Big Five, but realistically you’re very unlikely to see them all. Don’t come here with the goal of checking a dozen species off your list. Instead, come to get the kind of in-depth elephant encounters that you’ve always dreamed of when watching a David Attenborough documentary.
Elephants, elephants & more elephants
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the Spekboom Trail is well-recommended. The trail is set within a fenced-off botanical reserve, meaning you can roam through it freely without fear of being charged by an elephant or rhino or ending up the main meal of a hungry lion.Addo, where elephants and dung beetles thrive
As the name suggests, Addo Elephant National Park offers great elephant viewing. This is an understatement though; it offers some of the best elephant viewing in Africa. The sheer number of them is impressive (about 600 and growing) but what’s really exciting is how close they come. Being used to less habituated elephants elsewhere, I’ve had at least one scary moment when a big bull casually brushed past my car. There is lots of other wildlife as well; particularly conspicuous are the greater kudu bulls with their impressive spiraling horns. Cape buffalo, Burchell’s zebra, red hartebeest and eland are often seen as well. Due to the thick vegetation, predator sightings are hit-and-miss but it’s worth heading out early to increase your chances of seeing lion and spotted hyena on the move. Although notoriously shy, the park isn’t bad for black rhino either. And then of course there are the flightless dung beetles, quite rightly almost as celebrated in Addo as the elephants whose dung they roll.
Elephants and more elephants in Addo
Addo is also a very accessible park, situated near Port Elizabeth and along the popular Garden Route. Inside the park there are plenty of tar roads and you can self-drive your way around. It’s a popular family choice and can get busy along the main thoroughfares, but it’s big enough that you can generally escape the crowds where necessary.
I’ve been lucky enough to stay at the secluded Gorah Elephant Camp, which sits on its own private concession of Addo and has beautiful views across the green rolling hills that characterize this park. But I’ve also enjoyed
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staying at the more basic South African National Parks camp by the main entrance, and at excellent accommodations just outside the park, where you’ll often get more privacy and better value for money.Expanding Addo
Most visitors mistakenly concentrate all their time in the main game-viewing area, which is choc-a-bloc full of elephants and home to the rest of the Big Five. The elephant sightings are superb and I’ve seen a couple of lion kills here too, but the area lacks a sense of wilderness and starts to feel very small and contained after a couple of days of exploring. As such, I would recommend all visitors escape into the quieter Zuurberg section of the park, or take a walk along the Alexandria hiking trail for a chance to forget the people and rediscover the wilderness vibe.
With plans well-underway to expand Addo into a 360,000 hectare mega-park including a large marine component,
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penguins, sharks and whales will soon be added to Addo’s already impressive species list. Tourism infrastructure is currently being developed in the coastal region, which will allow for southern right whale and great white shark viewing opportunities. So, when you combine these marine mammals with the traditional Big Five already found in the park, Addo will shortly be the first conservation area in the world to proudly boast a Magnificent Seven safari option.Elephants Galore
Addo is South Africa's third-largest national park, covering 1800 sq km, and a popular stop for both self-drive and guided safaris, situated near Port Elizabeth and the Garden Route. While it can get busy (book well ahead to stay here over Christmas), the park certainly lives up to its name, with over 600 elephants comprising Africa's most concentrated pachyderm population. I experienced my most memorable elephant sightings here: thirsty herds hurrying to waterholes, trunks swinging and cute calves scurrying; and the surly adolescent male who passed our vehicle, his glaring eye sizing up our camera lenses. The sprawling park covers numerous environments, from the Zuurberg Mountains to the coastline; the main section is pleasingly hilly, with viewpoints and ridges to drive along. My hottest tip, for small groups, is the Narina Bush Camp. It's a blissful, electricity-free getaway with a gas-powered fridge, donkey-boiler shower, and an inviting waterhole and terrace.
A great day/overnight trip for those doing the Eastern Cape
The best thing about Addo is that it’s so accessible – you can fit in a real safari experience while road-tripping between the beaches of Jeffrey’s Bay and the scenic beauty of the Wild Coast. It’s well worth the detour if you’re not going to be safari-ing anywhere else or if, like me, you’re an elephant fanatic whose idea of heaven is to park up by a waterhole and watch the herds come and go for hours on end. The eles are the main attraction, although the park has lions, hyenas and myriad varieties of antelope too.
The top-priced self-catering accommodation here is quite gorgeous for a special occasion, and I loved the chance to eat my picnic at the floodlit waterhole within the campground, which also has an underground hide. Avoid weekends and school holidays, when lots of families make the campgrounds rather noisy and the roads crowded.
So much more than a bunch of happy elephants
Currently, the greater Addo National Park is around 3,000km2 in size and includes six distinct eco-types within its boundaries: the Cape Floral fynbos habitat, the arid and rocky Nama Karoo, Afromontane evergreen forests, subtropical thickets, a coastal belt, and a huge 1,200km2 marine reserve where penguins, fur seals, whales, and great white sharks abound.
I love the self-drive safari options in the popular ‘Main Camp’ and ‘Colchester’ sections, but more than that, I enjoy exploring the many little-known gems in this park. I have stayed up in the mountains in the charming Narina tented camp, and I have explored Addo’s misty forests on my quest to find rare and colorful birds.
I have ventured in my 4x4 over the Zuurberg mountains and seen black rhinos, and I have trekked the 2-day Alexandria hiking trail through desert-like dunes along Addo’s Woody Cape coastal section. In fact, there are numerous places to hike in Addo. Not a lot of people know that.
You can also ride horses among wildlife, stay in a five-star concession, hang out with habituated meerkats, and even go shark cage diving from the nearby town of Gqeberha.
All in all, Addo is bigger, better, and far more diverse than most people realize.
Where Else Can You See the ‘Big 7’?
Addo is also known for one of the largest populations of disease-free buffalo on the continent. Unfortunately, these creatures are such an important source of revenue (for sales to other reserves) that the lion numbers have recently been drastically reduced to limit predation. There are currently only five lions in the park. While you can often hear
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them at night around the excellent campsite at Main Camp, sightings are relatively rare.Ellies aside, my favourite spot is Algoa Bay Lookout, in the park’s less-visited southern sector – the only place where you might not only see lions but sea lions (South African fur seals). Africa’s third-biggest national park (now 1,700km2) has been extended in recent years to include the Marine Protected Area and so to offer sightings of whales and great white sharks. Hence the Big 7 tag. Why stop at 7? This marine area, just 30km south of Main Camp, also offers a unique opportunity to see dolphins, orcas, and humpback and southern right whales (and even penguins).
Go to Addo if you want to see ellies. But, if time allows, be sure to schedule a day or two extra to bag some other unique sightings. Addo Elephant National Park is about much more than just elephants.