Addo Elephant National Park
Eastern Cape , South Africa
Addo Elephant National Park is located in the malaria- free Eastern Cape about an hour’s drive from Port Elizabeth. The 164 000 hectare park was opened in 1931 combining seven of South Africa’s major vegetation zones including five of the worlds seven biomes. These are forest, sub- tropical thicket, grassland, fynbos and nama karoo. There are few places in the world which can offer one the variety of vegetation, geology and wildlife that is found in this spectacular reserve. From the Zuurberg Mountains and the Alexandra Forests and a massive coastal sand dune belt, Addo has it all. There are plans in place to expand this park to 360 000 hectares in the near future. Addo is effectively split up in to a number of separate sections each offering something special. Addo’s main game viewing is located in a central section of the reserve consisting of 30 000 hectares where other fragments of the park are broken up or separated from this section. The climate in the area is generally quite pleasant with summer temperatures ranging from warm to hot (40’C) and winters being mild days to cold evenings. The annual rainfall is around 450mm and spread out throughout the year.
The diverse habitats of Addo vary from the beautiful Darlington Lake and pristine and ancient Zuurberg Mountains down to the dense valley bushveld of the Sundays River Valley and the indigenous forests of the Woody Cape. Addo Elephant Park is marketed as a ‘Big 7’ park. This includes the Big Five as well as the Great White Shark and the Southern Right Whale. These two marine species can be seen (although not often) from the Woody Cape Section as well as Bird and St Croix Islands. Bird Island is home to one of the largest Cape Gannet Colony in the world and a large population of Cape Fur Seals. St Croix Island is refuge to an African Penguin Colony of around 60 000 in number. This island is also the best area to spot the Great White Sharks and Southern Right Whales.
Elephants are the flagship species of the park with viewing of these grey giants being arguably the best on the African continent. The elephant population is approximately 450 strong (which is an extremely high density of the pachyderm for the size of area that they occur in). As well as these, there is a diverse number of mammals including black rhino, cape buffalo, lion, spotted hyena, red hartebeest, eland and kudu to name but a few. There are around 170 species of birds in the main game viewing area however up to 450 species occur over the entire region. Some of the wildlife species numbers include:
- 53 general mammal species
- 54 reptile species
- 19 amphibian species
- Over 174 bird species in main game viewing region
Activities in the various sections of the park include:
- Game drives
- ‘Eyethu’ hop on (guide joins you on drive in your own vehicle)
- Horse trails
- Hiking
- Canoeing
- Bird watching
- 4x4 trails
- Biking
- Restaurant
Accommodation:
Main Camp
- Hapoor or Domkrag Guest Houses: 2 units sleeping up to six persons
- Chalet: 22 units with two single beds and a sleeper couch
- Semi-detached Chalet: 6 units with two single beds
- Cottages: 8 units with two single beds
- Rondawel: 6 units with two single beds
- Forest Cabin: 10 units with four single beds
- Safari Tents: 5 units with two single beds
Matyholweni Camp
- Cottages with two single beds
- Family Cottage with two single beds and a sleeper couch
Apart from the above mentioned camps there are a number of other park camps offering a variety of accommodation types and activitites from hiking to canoeing.
Private Camps
In addition there are also several luxurious private camps on concessions within various sections of the park including:
Gorah is located in the main game viewing area of the park whilst Nguni River Lodge is located in a separate section of the reserve. Game drives occur on the concessions as well as in the main public game viewing area of Addo.