Addo

Addo lies in the beautiful Sundays River Valley which stretches from the Indian Ocean to the Zuurberg Mountains. The Sundays River Valley is home to the famous Addo elephants, as well as the famous Addo Citrus trees which bear fruit throughout winter. The Greater Addo area is world renowned for its citrus fruit production and is South Africa’s largest producer of lemons. The small citrus farming community of Addo offers a variety accommodation to visitors to the Addo Elephant National Park. The area is alive with citrus farms, wonderful Addo Roses and an abundance of animal and bird life. Addo is watched over by the Zuurberg Mountain Range, which offers some spectacular hiking and horse riding trails.

The Addo Elephant National Park was founded after eleven Addo Elephants were saved from the brink of extinction in 1931 after the continuous clashes between farmers and elephants, reached a dangerous level. Crop damage and night raids were the reasons sited for the killing of these beautiful beasts.

Today the Addo Elephant Park is also home to Cape Buffalo, Black Rhino, Lion, Leopard, a range of antelope species, the rare flightless dung beetle. The Addo Elephant Park is South Africa’s first ‘Big Seven’ nature reserve, with inclusion the southern right whale and great white shark, since the park now extends to the Indian Ocean and some offshore islands.

Situated just over 45 minutes drive from Port Elizabeth, this magnificently diverse area offers a wide variety of wildlife experiences, natural landscapes, outdoor adventure and cultural experiences. Large tracts of land have now been devoted to wildlife and many world famous reserves such as Shamwari and Schotia Safari Private Reserve can also be found in the Eastern Cape.

Addo Elephant Park

Found deep in the shadow of dense valley bushveld, the Addo Elephant Park was proclaimed in the 1930’s when only 11 elephants remained. Today it is a finely tuned Eco-system which is sanctuary to over 490 elephants, buffalo, black rhino, lion, leopard, hyena, antelope, small carnivores, over 180 bird species as well as the endangered flightless dung beetle, found almost exclusively in Addo. The Zuurberg Mountains, falling within the park, are home to interesting fauna and flora including three rare cycad and two yellowwood species.

Plans to extend the current 170 000 ha Addo Elephant National Park into a 400 000 ha “Greater Addo Park” are already underway with the park having more than doubled in size over the past six years. Unique features of the Park will include the “Big Seven” (elephant, rhino, buffalo, leopard, lion, great white shark and Southern Right whale) in their natural environment, a 120 000 ha marine reserve with a number of offshore islands as well as five of South Africa’s seven biomes (distinct vegetation regions), making it one of the most diverse conservation areas in the world.