African Overland Tours
Addo Elephant National Park is a big-game safari and marine reserve where you can see not just the Big Five but the Big Seven! Addo Elephant National Park – or just Addo for short – sits on the southern coastline of South Africa in the Eastern Cape province. It's the country's third-largest national park, and one of its most popular safari destinations. Here's an all-you-need-to-know guide to the park, from what wildlife you can see to the best time to visit ...
What’s so special about Addo?
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Different whales, including Bryde's whales, can be found in Addo's Marine Protected Area[/caption]
Addo Elephant National Park isn't your regular safari reserve. I say this because it includes a 120,000-hectare marine reserve in addition to its 180,000 hectares of land. It’s for this reason that Addo can lay claim to actually having a ‘Big Seven’ – it hosts the traditional Big Five (lions, elephants, black rhinos, leopards, and Cape buffaloes) as well as great white sharks and southern right whales.
Anyone who spends a decent bit of time exploring the different parts of Addo therefore encounters incredible land and sea-based wildlife.
Even if you keep just to the land, as most visitors do, Addo's vegetation and scenery are varied and very beautiful. The landscape ranges from untouched sandy beaches and grassy plains to tree-covered hills and mountains. The park actually has five of South Africa’s nine different biomes! These are:
- Albany thicket
- Fynbos
- Forest
- Nama-Karoo
- Indian Ocean coastal belt
Why are elephants in the name of the park?
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Addo is one of the best places in Africa for finding elephant herds on safari[/caption]
Addo Elephant National Park was created in 1931 expressly to protect what remained of the nearly decimated local bush elephant population. At the time of opening, the park had just 11 elephants.
Initially, Addo consisted of just over 2,000 hectares around the Sundays River Valley. Happily, the park’s conservation efforts proved so successful that today there are over 600 elephants, according to South African National Parks (or SANParks). In fact, the population is so large that Addo has given some elephants to game reserves in other parts of South Africa.
Why does Addo have a strange, disjointed shape?
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The Addo of today is a varied place with many different landscapes and types of animals[/caption]
Addo is an oddly shaped park. It has six inland sections that are separated from some coastal ‘exclaves’ and islands by the N2, a major national highway. The inland sections all touch and form a narrow squiggle.
The reason for the strange setup is that the park has acquired additional land in a piecemeal fashion over the years.
The section of Addo that most safarigoers visit is tellingly called “Addo Main Game Viewing Area”. It sits in the southern half of the inland park and is dominated by Albany (or subtropical) thicket. This biome has many succulents like the spekboom, which elephants love to eat.
In the Main Game Viewing Area, you’ll find various lookout points, an underground hide, waterholes, pans, and dams, three botanical reserves, and a few rest camps. And yes, this is one of the best areas in the park for seeing elephant herds!
What wildlife lives in Addo Park?
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Zebras and warthogs are commonly spotted in Addo's Main Game Viewing Area[/caption]
According to SANParks, there are 91 mammal species in Addo. Of course, the sorts of animals you’re likely to see depend on the section, or sections, of the park that you visit.
In the southern arm of the inland park, which includes the Main Game Viewing Area, you find many classic safari animals. These include zebras, warthogs, hippos, lions, and buffaloes. There are also various antelopes like red hartebeests, elands, kudus, and bushbucks. This is also where you can find Addo’s famous flightless dung beetles. More on them in a moment.
The northern sections of the park are drier and more mountainous. Here, you can find species like aardwolves, mountain zebras, oryxes (gemsboks), mountain reedbucks, black wildebeests, and springboks.
Thanks to its many biomes, Addo is a great destination for birders. Some of the park’s frequently sighted species include ostriches, secretary birds, black-headed herons, bokmakieries, red bishops, Cape batises, and Cape bulbuls.
When it comes to Addo’s Marine Protected Area, you have sandy and rocky beaches, the Sundays River estuary, underwater reefs, and some islands. Bird Island in particular is an important breeding ground for endangered African penguins. It’s also known for its large Cape gannet colony.
Why all the fuss about Addo's dung beetles?
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Flightless dung beetles with their signature dung ball[/caption]
In any discussion of Addo, you’ll hear talk about the flightless dung beetle. That’s not your usual safari poster child.
The flightless dung beetle is a small species of beetle that grows no longer than 4 cm (1.5 inches). It used to be found across Southern Africa, but today is endemic to Addo Park and a few nearby reserves.
Flightless dung beetles can be seen building, rolling, and burying dung balls (far larger than themselves) made from the faeces of other animals. In fact, they can roll balls up to 50 times their own weight! The beetles rely primarily on elephant, rhino, and buffalo faeces. They use their dung balls for various purposes, including as food and as breeding dens.
If you do an organised safari drive in Addo, your guide will be sure to point them out to you and further explain their lives and important ecological role. You're also likely to stop multiple times for them, as in Addo they quite literally have right of way on the roads.
When is the best time to visit Addo Park?
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Elephant, zebras, and springboks at a watering hole[/caption]
The overall best time to visit Addo is during its long dry spell, which runs from May to September or October. This is wintertime in South Africa, and so means pleasantly cooler daytime temperatures and fewer, if any, mosquitoes.
Winter is also off-peak season, so the park isn’t so crowded at this time. Wildlife spotting is also easier in winter, as thinner vegetation makes the animals easier to spot. Also, importantly, many species search out dwindling waterholes, so you know where to find them. And you consequently often enjoy multispecies tableaus!
Happily, winter is also the best time to visit Addo if you want to spot lots of marine life. Southern right whales are most often spotted between July and September. And the mothers and calves often come very close to shore! Humpback whales are often sighted between June and August, and great white sharks between April and September.
Note that if you’re keen to see the birds of St Croix and Bird Islands, you can view them (and other marine life) from a distance on boat tours. But these tours are based out of one of the nearby towns, not Addo itself.
Finally, if you’re keen for greener, softer landscapes, or wish to see migratory birds, the best time to visit Addo is during the summer months of January to mid-March.
Is there malaria in Addo Park?
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An elephant calf by a watering hole in Addo[/caption]
No! Addo Park is completely malaria-free. It’s far south of Africa’s malarial region.
The absence of malaria (or any other disease like yellow fever) makes Addo one of Africa’s most appealing big-game reserves for many travellers. There really aren’t that many big-game reserves like it where you don’t need to concern yourself at all with disease prevention. This makes Addo an especially great choice for families travelling with small kids.
Can I stay inside the park?
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A Cape bulbul on a chalet balcony in Addo[/caption]
Yes, there are a dozen or so accommodations inside the park. The rest camps run by the park offer very affordable rates. They range from very basic campsites to comfortable, family-size lodgings. Those in the main area of the park are securely fenced to keep out wildlife.
On the cheaper side, there are tent and caravan campsites as well as permanent, furnished tents that offer shared ablutions and outdoor cooking facilities. Then there are nicer glamping tents with kitchenettes and balconies. There are also different types of self-catering huts and cabins. Finally, there are also some more comfortable and spacious self-catering chalets and cottages that come with air conditioning.
If you’d like more luxurious or catered lodgings, there are a handful inside the park, but many more outside its borders.
How do I reach the park?
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The nearby city of Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth)[/caption]
The regional airport in Gqeberha is only an hour’s drive from Addo Elephant National Park. You can fly to Gqeberha from Cape Town, Johannesburg, or any other major airport in South Africa.
That said, I should point out that Addo Elephant National Park sits just beyond the eastern terminus of the famed Garden Route, one of South Africa’s most exciting and scenic road trips. If you do a Garden Route road trip with African Overland Tours, Addo is always included.
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Can I go walking or horseriding inside Addo?
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You can't walk everywhere in Addo, because of dangerous wildlife, but there are safe areas you can explore on foot[/caption]
Yes, you can!
Addo has a range of walking, running, and hiking trails. These range from short loops accessible to the blind and wheelchair users to a multiday trek. The trails can be found throughout the park, allowing you to appreciate the beauty, wildlife, and scenery of the different biomes.
Those wanting an easy or educational path should walk the PPC Discovery Trail at Addo Main Camp or do a guided botany and birding walk in one of the park’s botanical reserves. These botanical areas are fenced to protect certain vegetation from elephants; the added benefit is that you can walk safely inside them.
For more exercise, there’s the Cannon Trail, for instance, a 7 km path that takes you through beautiful dune forest and along the beach. It’s popular with birders, walkers, and runners. There are also day-long hikes in the interior Zuurberg mountains. And then there’s the Alexandria Hiking Trail. This is a two- or three-day coastal forest trek in the incredibly scenic Woody Cape section of the park.
Finally, know that you can go horseriding in the central Nyathi section of Addo. Authorities monitor wildlife movements to keep riders safe.
Time to plan your Addo visit?
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A warthog piglet spotted on safari in Addo[/caption]
So I hope you’re excited after reading this blog post to visit Addo Elephant National Park! As mentioned, it’s a staple add-on to a Garden Route road trip.
Please browse the itineraries below if you’d like to see what a Garden Route and Addo overlanding tour looks like.
I can honestly say that the southern coast is one of South Africa’s most beautiful and rewarding regions to explore. So if you can make the trip, please do!
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A Cape weaver on a spekboom in Addo[/caption]
Note: This blog post was created by Brownyn Paxton in April 2013. It was completely rewritten by Megan Abigail White in July 2026. https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g312659-d13131637-Reviews-African_Overland_Tours-Cape_Town_Central_Western_Cape.html
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