South Africa has rich history, culture, stunning scenery, amazing wildlife, golden savannah, breathtaking beaches, picturesque vineyards and more. Two weeks is the minimum you require to explore this wonderful country.
Our itinerary had a mix of everything that South Africa has to offer from beaches to nature trails, exploring quaint little towns to modern cities, and from incredible landscapes to intriguing wildlife.
Talking about wildlife in South Africa, there are many wildlife reserves and safaris and you don’t know which one to visit. We visited the largest and most popular Kruger National Park. And we also visited Addo Elephant National Park in Addo region which is about 72 km from Port Elizabeth.
Addo is the third largest National Park in South Africa and only park in the world to showcase the “Big Seven”-apart from the usual Big Five(lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino). It also has two largest sea animals (whales and sharks) as the park stretches down to South Coast.
The game reserve is malaria free area. The area surrounding the park offers accommodation ranging from luxury five star lodges to backpacker facilities. We stayed at the luxurious and environmentally friendly Elephant House lodge that is just a few minutes away from the park.(for detailed review of the lodge, you can read my review on TripAdvisor)
Whether you want to just relax or you want an action-packed adventure trip or an elephant centered wildlife experience, Addo is the place for you. We stayed in Addo for 2 days and both the days we visited the Elephant Park.
What to do in the park?
- In the park you are allowed to drive your own vehicle., which we did on the second day of our park visit and it was so much fun.
- You can book yourself on to a guided game viewing safari. The first day of our visit we opted for this. It was very insightful and interesting. Our guide was amazing. Guided game drives are for 2 hours- there are early morning, day and night safaris/drives.
- There is an option of hop-on-guides, where you can book a private guide and he will provide his guiding services for visitors in the comfort of his own vehicle.
Addo Elephant National Park has a game drive office, restaurant, shop, camps, guesthouse, swimming pool, bird hide, waterhole viewing point, picnic area and fuel station.
Our safari was fun-both self drive and guided. We counted a total of 88 elephants of which many of them were grouped at some of the watering holes. We could only spot the big 4, as we didn’t get to see rhino. For the very first time, we saw the Flightless Dung Beetle.
Apart from the big 4, we also spotted many cape buffaloes, red hartebeest, warthogs, hyenas, kudus, bushbucks, zebras, caracals, meerkats, honey badgers and more. I think I was more excited than my kids, haha.
If you are traveling to South Africa, I would recommend you to add Addo Elephant National Park to your itinerary.
For more details or booking:
Website: http://www.addoelephantpark.com
Email: addoenquiries@sanparks.org
Phone: +27 (0)42 233 8600
Fax: +27 (0)42 233 8643
For booking online: http://www.sanparks.org
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