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Addo Elephant Park - |
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Been on safari from Cape Town? |
Shortly hereafter we closed our windows because he got a lot closer and seemed somewhat inquisitive!
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).
In case you’re wondering, Addo Elephant Park is not just about elephants. You’ll find lion, black rhino, leopard and buffalo (if they’re not cunning enough to stay hidden as wild animals tend to!) as well as numerous smaller game there too.
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 Park safaris) 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(

You may find the following related pages helpful:
Cape Town safari options
Other Eastern Cape game reserves
From African Safari at Addo to the Homepage
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