Addo Elephant Park

The Addo Elephant Park is situated in the Eastern Cape in the Sundays River region. It was originally established in the year 1931 with just 11 elephants and now the Addo Elephant Park has about 450 elephants. Apart from the elephant you can also spot rhinos, antelopes and cape buffalos. This park is also home to the flightless dung beetle that is unique.

At present the area of the Addo Elephant Park is about 164000 ha. With the proposed proclamation this area will be increased to about 360000 ha. There is one specialty to this park. It has the Big 7 in it. They are the elephant, rhino, lion, buffalo, leopard, southern right whale and the great white shark.

Guided game drive in the Addo Elephant Park is the most popular drive among the visitors to this national park. It is essential to book drive in advance during the peak season which is from October to March. Sunrise drive, Day drive, Sunset drive, and Night drives are available in the Addo Elephant Park. All of these drives are of 2 hours duration. The Sunrise drive starts at 6 am during summer and at 7 am during the winter season.

The day drive timings are 9 am, 12 noon, and 3 pm. The Sunset drive is at 4 pm. The night drive is at 8 pm in summer and at 6 pm in winter. Qualified, experienced and knowledgeable guides are available for these drives which are conducted in open-top trucks and land rovers. You might need to pay half the price for children less than 12 years. Children under 6 years are not allowed for these drives. If you have your own car then you can have self-drive viewing or hire a guide at the gates for a nominal fee which is paid directly to the guide.

Addo Horse trails are also possible in this national park. Horse rides start in the morning at 8 am for less experienced people and the duration is about 2 hours. For more experienced people the ride is at 2 pm. The destination of this ride would be the Nyati area where you can spot elephants, black rhino, antelope, zebra, and buffalo. The Nyati area does not have lions or hyenas. Children less than 16 years are not allowed for the horse trails.

The Alexandria Hiking Trail is another popular trail for the visitors. It is a circular trail of around 36 km. it will take two days to complete hiking this trial. You will be hiking for 19.5 km and 16.5 km in the first and the second day respectively. At the end of the first day you can rest at the Woody Cape. It is necessary that you take your own provisions for your stay in the Woody Cape. The Woody Cape hut has 12 beds and is rainwater fed. This rainwater is used for cooking and drinking only. This trail is signposted very well and hence it is not guided. The Langebos Huts at the base of the trail is used by the visitors before they start off their first day hiking. It is advisable that at least one of the people in the group wear a bright colored jacket so that it is easy to identify the group from air.