Addo Elephant National Park

A park built around eleven elephants

In 1931 the elephants of the Sundays River Valley had been hunted to the edge of extinction. Eleven animals were left. The park was proclaimed that year to save them, and for the first two decades keeping them inside was almost as hard as keeping hunters out, until an elephant-proof fence of tram rails and lift cables finally did the job.

Those eleven have become a population of more than six hundred. It is one of the great conservation turnarounds anywhere in Africa, and standing at a waterhole while eighty elephants come and go around you is the best possible way to understand it.

What you will see

Elephant, of course, and in numbers that make Addo unusual: sightings are close to guaranteed rather than a matter of luck. Alongside them the park holds buffalo, black rhino, lion, spotted hyena, leopard, kudu, eland, red hartebeest, warthog and the handsome Cape mountain zebra.

One well-known gap: there are no giraffe in Addo. The thicket is not their habitat and they were never native here. If you have your heart set on giraffe, one of the private reserves nearby will oblige, and we can point you to the right one.

Leopard and hyena are present but nocturnal and seldom seen. Treat them as a bonus rather than a plan.

Where to drive, and when

The main game-viewing area sits south of the Zuurberg and is laced with loops that all connect back to Main Camp, so it is difficult to get lost. Hapoor Dam is the classic elephant waterhole, named after a dominant bull with a notch in his ear who ruled the park for decades. Domkrag Dam remembers a tortoise with a habit of getting under parked cars. Gwarrie Pan, Marion Baree, Rooidam and Carol's Rest all reward a patient half hour with the engine off.

Elephants drink through the heat of the day, so the middle hours that are quiet in most parks are often the best here. Winter, roughly May to September, concentrates animals at the water and thins out the bush, which makes for easier viewing. Summer is greener, hotter and busier.

Our honest advice: pick two or three waterholes and sit. Guests who drive the whole road network at speed see less than guests who park at Hapoor with a flask of coffee and wait.

The Big 7

Addo is the only park in the world that can claim the Big 7. The traditional five are joined by the southern right whale and the great white shark, because the park's boundaries reach past the dunes of the Woody Cape section and out into Algoa Bay.

Offshore lie Bird Island and St Croix, home to the largest breeding colony of Cape gannets on earth and one of the most significant African penguin colonies remaining. You will not see that stretch on a normal game drive, but it explains the claim, and boat trips run from Gqeberha for those who want the marine half.

Dung beetles have right of way

The road signs are not a joke. The flightless dung beetle, Circellium bacchus, has disappeared from most of its former range and Addo is its stronghold. You will see them rolling their brood balls straight across the tar, and the park asks that you steer around them and avoid driving through elephant dung on the road.

The bush itself is worth a second look while you wait. Most of what surrounds you is spekboom, a small succulent that elephants eat by the ton, that regrows from a dropped leaf, and that stores carbon at a rate which has made it a serious tool in land restoration.

Beyond the main camp

The park is far bigger than the section most visitors see. Nyathi and Kabouga lie north of the Zuurberg, wilder and far emptier. Darlington sits further inland around the dam of the same name. Woody Cape protects the Alexandria dune field and its coastal forest, with the two-day Alexandria Hiking Trail running through it.

The Kabouga and Bedrogfontein routes need a high-clearance 4x4 and a permit, and make a superb day out for anyone travelling in the right vehicle. We cover those separately, and we are happy to help you plan one.