Addo Elephant National Park

Nice self-drive experience with lots of Elephants around.

We arrived late in the evening at the campground in Addo National Park. Campground was quite packed, but nice. Clean facilities. Camp office was just being rebuild. There's a waterhole where you can observe the animals. As soon as the lights at the waterhole switched off at around 10pm, an elephant family and a rhino showed up. Was great to see the standoff between those 2 in the dark.
Next day we did a self-drive tour through the park - amazing. So many Elephants, turtles, all kinds of deer, and even a lion crossed our park. There's a bushcamp in the middle where we had a picknick.
All in all Addo was a great experience!

There is a lot of wildlife to see!

Addo Elephant National Park
In March 2017 my wife and I made a very pleasant one day safari tour in the Addo Elefant National Park. We started at the Zuurberg Mountain Village and early in the morning we arrived in Addo. We saw quite a number of elephants, sometimes in small groups but at other moments in pretty large herds with cute baby elephants among them. Some groups of elephants came very close to our safari truck!
We also saw impressive numbers of Burchell Zebra’s. This is the zebra subspecies in the Addo Elephant Park. Other large mammals were African Buffalos, Kudus, Elands, Red Hartebeests and Warthogs. Predators were a Spotted Hyena and quite a lot of Bl;ack-backed Jackals.
A Pale Chanting Goshawk sat quite close to the road in the bushes, a sitting duck for photographers! Common Fiscals were on the lookout for prey and Jackal Buzzards were soaring in the air. A large Denham’s Bustard was walking about. In a small lake we saw South African Shelducks, Yellow-billed ducks and Red-knobbed Coots.
Just outside the park on the way back to our lodge we saw a number of Giraffes. In short: there is a lot to see!

Great place to get close to several elephants

Visiting the Addy Elephant National Park has been my first safari.
After we entered the park and went along the road for a few minutes an elephant just passed by our car. That was pretty exciting because we did not if we just can wait or should leave. But the elephant has been really relaxed and just walked along the road. The highlight was the stop at a water hole during the midday sun. I guess that there have been 50 elephants close to each other. Watching this scenery for 30min has been fantastic.
Besides elephants we also saw zebras and warthogs.

Addo Elephant National Park is the perfect spot for a day trip.

Great self-drive -- more than just elephants

This was our first self-drive safari experience, immediately after spending 2 nights at a Amakhala/Shamwari (first safari experience altogether). We thoroughly enjoyed our experience!

There was something special about spotting game ourselves, in our little VW polo (it handled the unpaved parts easily). We were very lucky on the day -- with the help of the latest spotting map at the main gate, we saw countless buffaloes, a lion, hundreds of elephants, kudos, ostriches, zebras, and so many more.

We spent all day driving through the park, rather than sticking around the main gate area, and loved the varied scenery. The watering holes are exciting at the right time!

We would highly recommend a visit to Addo. Everyone talks about the elephants here, and yes they were tremendous, but there is so much more to see!

Addo is the Elephant Park

This was not our first time we visited that Addo Elephant Park, but this time it was special as family member joined us for a trip along the Garden Route. If there is place you can see elephants, Addo it is the place. We are especially fond of the very young once as they not only cute, but very play full. The park has partly very dense bush vegetation, but also has big open spaces. On hills, viewpoints offer good sights in to the surroundings, at some you are allowed to exit the car. At the Hapoor Dam we could see up 200 Elephants drinking and waiting their turn. But the park also has lots of antelopes, zebras, tortoises and a lot of Birds. Predators are rather scares, but we have seen lions on previous visits.

The elephants are so huge!

It's very nice to see so many different kind of animals in one Park.
It's wonderful season in early May.
The natural protection polices are very good. (for instance, Don't feed animals inside the park)

If you want to see 80 Elephants....so great!

Visited just for one day

Awesome

This National Park, I would rate as the 3rd best National Park in South Africa, (after Kruger Park and Pilansberg National Park), in terms of the wildlife on offer, despite that it is larger in size than Pilansberg. Located a mere 70 Kilometers from Port Elizabeth,(which itself is a wonderful tourist destination) it offers opportunities for day visits as well as extended stays in camps. I did the former option.

Security
Travelling is safe and secure, with one entrance a few kilometers from the National highway. This entrance however includes an extensive section of dirt road once you enter the Park. An alternative and more scenic route to the main entrance of the Park involves travelling through countryside and small towns. Inside the Park, security was excellent, with the presence of Rangers frequently seen.

Game
The Game in the Park is wonderful, diverse and appreciable. Opportunities for photography is excellent (from macro/insect to landscapes). The Park offers the Big 5 (Buffalo, Elephant, Leopard, Lion and Rhino), as well as a Marine section (which I did not experience) but which can be arranged. I have seen Lion on all 3 occasions I visited the Park. Only Leopard eluded me. I also saw my first Black Rhino in this Park. But it is the elephants that are the main attraction and any lover of these wonderful animals will not be disappointed. From lone bulls to herds in excess of 50 have been sighted. These have afforded the most wonderful photographic opportunities, especially the young calves. One of the most amazing experiences for me is the close proximity to these animals which you are able to enjoy in Addo.
Several other carnivores have been seen, notably Jackal, which has at times reached epidemic proportions and have had to be culled. Hyena, Caracal and Mongoose have been sighted. One highlight for me was a clan of Suricate (Meerkat) on the move. I also saw 2 male Cheetah, but I have been advised that these were “rogue” animals that escaped from a neighbouring reserve.
Herbivores are well represented, except for the Giraffe, and include magnificent Kudu, Red Hartebeest, Zebra, Warthogs, several smaller antelope. I enjoyed an abundance of Tortoise; primates were represented by the Chacma Baboon and Vervet Monkeys. Addo is home to a unique Dung beetle, the flightless beetle, a wonder to watch.
Bird life is a photographer’s dream, and formed part of the reason for me to visit this Park as a bird lover, and I was not disappointed, and saw several birds for the first time, some of which are endemic to this area. Included are several Raptors, flocks of Ostriches, Sunbirds, Black headed Heron. The latter I watched for half an hour as it caught 3 Lizards in quick succession to my complete and utter delight. I also saw a pair of Stanleys Bastards.

Travel in the Park.
Roads in the Park are very good and well maintained, with part tarred roads, and part dirt roads.

Scenery
Wonderful scenery abounds, with several spots where I was allowed to get out of my vehicle and enjoy vistas, some with benches where you can spend hours enjoying the view and wildlife. As a photographer, this was an added bonus to my visit.

Ambiance and experience
All my visits to the Park have been wonderful experiences, rejuvenating and calming. In my experience it is not as crowded as Kruger. Overall the weather was good. Interactions with Rangers was always pleasant, a reassuring presence. The restaurant in the main camp served excellent meals, though I opted for take-away meals, preferring to sit at a dam to enjoy both a meal and wildlife. Satisfying from both a wildlife and experience point of view is how I describe my experience, and will gladly visit here again. My only regret is that I have not yet stayed overnight in the Park, which I am sure will enhance my experience.

Addo seemed very tame after our week in Kruger. It is quite beautiful and hilly. Accommodation was very comfortable but seeing the wildlife proved a lot more difficult because of the bushes. We waited for one whole day to see our first elephants.