Addo Elephant Park -
our first African Safari with the children

'African safari' ain't what it used to be – these days there are too many humans and not enough bush!

But it's wonderful to get into the bush at all! We chose Addo Elephant Park to introduce the kids to game parks and 'safari' experiences.

Why?
Well, we live in Cape Town and it’s the closest Big Five national park as well as being neatly situated at the far end of the Garden Route (our regular holiday destination).

Of course there are the private African big five game reserves nearby , but we chose Addo for now as the more affordable option.

Been on safari from Cape Town? Click here to share your review and pics!

We drove into the park from near Colchester and no sooner had we crossed into the park proper than we were, face to face with this:

Our first elephant up close and personal!

Elephants are amazing close up. Soooo wrinkly. Soooo ponderous-looking. As for that trunk - what a remarkably versatile and dexterous piece of equipment! Everyone should own one ;o).

My top Addo african safari tip would be to consult the ‘sightings board’ outside reception before each game drive so that you know where the most recent sightings have taken place. We missed it somehow for the first day and a half :o(.

African safari -- Addo Accommodation

We really enjoyed staying at Addo Main Camp. The staff members were all very friendly and it was great to be so close to the wildlife area. We were there in the depths of winter -- brr, chilly nights! -- but the daytime temperatures were still really pleasant. The accommodation in the Park all good value and SA National Parks (SanParks) have added some more upmarket options recently to expand their offerings.

We sussed out all the accommodation on offer and decided the rondavels had by far the best situation –- overlooking the waterhole!

African safari -- how long should you stay?

We spent 3 days and 3 nights at Addo and that was pretty much perfect for the kids’ first taste of African safari. To be honest, the game has to be presenting itself thick and fast to satisfy kids under 10 (and certain adults in our party, too!) Fortunately for us we saw some exciting stuff (you can visit our photo album if you like) and really enjoyed our time there.

African safari -- game spotting secrets?

You have three options open to you

• Drive yourselves and be totally independent. There’s no secret recipe here. Check the sightings board and head out with the map you are issued with a main gate. You’ll be hard-pressed to get lost, and there’s no guarantee that a formal game drive will have any better luck game spotting than you will
• arrange a formal game drive on a parks vehicle by booking ahead at the game drive centre near reception
• book a hop-on Guide to join you in your own vehicle. Once again, make the arrangements ahead of time at the game drive centre near reception.

What can you expect to see?

Wild animals are notoriously capricious!

So if have really bad luck you may see very little.

But given that Addo is relatively small (in comparison to Kruger National Park and the like) and officially a Big Five park, there’s generally a lot to be seen.

There are Elephants aplenty, buffalo, rhino, lion, leopard and a host of small game such as kudu, warthog, red hartebeest, zebra. Alas there are no giraffes there :o(.