June 2024

Since we arrived in the Eastern Cape Province two years ago, the Addo Elephant National Park has been a place we really wanted to visit. We knew a regular weekend would be too short for such a visit, but with a recent long weekend we finally got the opportunity to visit this amazing park.

The Addo Elephant National Park is 250km/156 miles from East London. If you fly from any major city in South Africa to Port Elizabeth (now known as Gqeberha) on the South-Eastern coast, it’s less than half an hour’s drive to the park’s southern gate. So, there is really no excuse not to visit this incredible park when you are staying in or visiting South Africa.

Entrance at the Addo Elephant National Park

We entered the park at the south gate, closest to the small town of Colchester. This is also known as the Matyholweni Gate. Because we arrived at the gate quite late on a Friday afternoon, we booked a chalet at the Matyholweni Camp which was only a few minutes’ drive from the gate.

Our chalet at the Matyholweni Camp

Inside the chalet

Self-catering chalet

Itā€™s important to remember that all the gates close at 18:00 (and 18:30 during the summer months) and that itā€™s not allowed to drive in the park after these hours.

The view from our chaletā€™s deck

After taking our luggage into the chalet, we made a fire to prepare dinner. We also prepared food for the next day to enjoy at the designated picnic area in the park.

A fire to prepare dinner (and lunch for the next day)

  • While working on this post, we realised that there are so many photos that we want to share with you. In today’s post we are going to give an overview of the park and facilities – but we couldn’t help but include a couple of photos of the elephants (and other animals) as well. So, sit back and enjoy the beauty of Addo with us.

We couldn’t wait to start exploring the park and were already up before sunrise. I told Berto that I hope we see at least one or two elephants today – little did I know what was in store for us!

Sunrise at Matyholweni Camp

Dense bushes and trees surround the camp

Early morning visitor

Our picnic food for later

Just a 10-minute drive from our chalet, was the first viewpoint, the Ndlovo Lookout. You may only leave your vehicle at designated “Lookout” points (but at your own risk as there are dangerous animals in the park). We got out of our vehicle and Berto quickly took a photo of the valley (while I looked around nervously for any possible danger).

View at Ndlovu Lookout

Although we didn’t see any animals for the first 15 minutes, the area we drove through was truly beautiful.

Inside Addo Elephant National Park

I was very excited when we saw our first herd of Red Hartebeest. And although these antelopes are known for being able to run very fast (up to 65km/h), they stood calmly grazing in the long grass as we drove slowly past them.

Herd of Red Hartebeest

And then, a few minutes later I saw our first elephant! I said to Berto: “Wow, that’s a big animal”. We stopped by the side of the road and watched him as he walked past us ā€“ literally a few meters from our vehicle. While I was holding my breath, Berto softly whispered: “Look, there are two more behind him”.

Our first elephant sighting

Such a big animal

Meters away from us

Two more elephants

It was incredible to see the elephants so close. We saw so many elephants during this weekend, but I will always remember our first encounter as a very special moment.

Lovely tree

Another animal we saw often were warthogs. We always enjoyed these sightings. Sometimes they would stand still while eating grass or digging roots out of the ground and then suddenly start running with their tails up – it was so much fun to watch them!

The entertaining warthog

It was already after 1pm when we pulled into Jack’s Picnic Site. This site is fenced with an electric gate. In this area you can therefore get out of your vehicle and stretch your legs a bit. There are clean bathrooms and lovely picnic sites and we were able to relax here while enjoying lunch.

Picnic site

Cooking water for coffee and lunch

We decided to drive one more “loop” before checking in at the Main Camp. We were rewarded with a herd of Burchell’s Zebras, Kudus and a big herd of elephants at Rooidam (one of the largest waterholes in the park).

Burchellā€™s Zebras

Kudu with spectacular horns

Another lovely tree

Zebra grazing next to the road

Elephant drinking water at Rooidam

Herd of elephants (look at the shenanigans of the little one on the right)

At the Addo Main Camp we received our key for our chalet for the next two days. Apart from reception, there is a curio and small convenient shop as well as a restaurant. You will find a very interesting Interpretive Centre here, as well as and Underground Hide with a waterhole that is lit up at night to see the wild animals when they come to drink water. You can also book guided game drives here (sunrise, morning, midday and afternoon). There is also a fuel station should you need to fill your vehicle with diesel or petrol.

Big tree at Addo Main Camp

Our chalet at the Main Camp

Interpretive Centre

Wall of Horns

Elephant skeleton

Waterhole at Main Camp

While enjoying the soft colours of a beautiful African sunset, we made another fire to prepare dinner. We also opened a bottle of Amarula liqueur. It was quite fitting to drink here in the Addo Elephant National Park, because this liqueur is made from the fruit of the African Marula tree, which is also locally called the elephant tree.

Sunset and fire

Amarula liqueur

On our last full day in the park, an amazing scene unfolded before our eyes. However, we are going to save that for a separate post. In the meantime, here are a few more photos from this day.

Lunch and snacks for the day

The day started a bit misty

Kudu in the mist

Zebra grazing on the wet grass

However, the mist was soon driven away by the hot sun. It was once again wonderful to see a big elephant bull walking slowly through the field.

The mist lifted and the sun came out

Big elephant bull

At another viewpoint, Zuurkop Lookout we stopped and got out of our ā€˜bakkieā€™ to take a few photos before quickly returning to the safety of our vehicle (the roar of lions we had heard earlier was still fresh in our minds).

View from Zuurkop Lookout

We also stopped at Jack’s Picnic Site again to enjoy our lunch. There were even volunteers selling food and coffee which was supported well by the visitors.

Our picnic spot

Lunch

Just before we drove back through the gate at the Main Camp, we saw a Red Hartebeest lying in the long grass. We were able to take a photo without causing a disturbance.

Red Hartebeest

While witnessing another spectacular sunset, we again prepared dinner on the fire. This time it was Chicken Potjie (see our Dish of the Week #33) – it was a good meal to celebrate an enjoyable day in the Addo Elephant National Park.

Sunset and dinner

Maybe it’s a good idea to end this post with a few more photos of wild animals. We saw more animals than expected – what an amazing experience.

Female and male kudu

Herd of elephants

Next week we will dedicate a post to just the elephants with a photo album of these magical big animals.