Posted on April 30, 2010 by Fiona Hilliard

It’s a pity Addo National Elephant Park didn’t exist when little Nelly packed up her trunk and waved cheery-bye to the circus.  She would have loved it here.  Well, over 450 elephants can’t be wrong. In fact, they’ve made themselves quite at home in the park which is situated 75km from Port Elizabeth in the Sundays River Valley.

Addo’s elephant sanctuary dates all the way back to 1931, when only 11 elephants lived in the area. They’re not alone anymore. Over time, the park has become a finely tuned ecosystem, where Cape buffalo, black rhino, antelope and rare flightless dung beetles live in harmony. Aww…you can just imagine them all chiming in to “In the Jungle”….Ee-ee-um-um-a-weh Ee-ee-um-um-a-weh…

Addo is thriving. Plans are already afoot to expand the 164000 ha Elephant National Park into a 360000 ha mega-park. That’s not all.  There’s also a rumour doing the rounds that there will soon be a marine reserve on site that includes Cape gannets and the second largest population of African penguins.

Even if the park doesn’t follow through on these plans, it’s still pretty impressive as it stands. During your visit, don’t miss out on the opportunity to spot the park’s elusive ‘Big Seven’.  That means getting everyone to keep their eyes peeled for the elephant (in fairness, not hard to miss), rhino, lion, buffalo, leopard, southern right whale and great white shark.

How to Get to Addo National Park from Port Elizabeth:

The quickest way to get to Addo National Park from Port Elizabeth is to follow the N2 highway towards Grahamstown.  Take the exit located on the left that is signposted “Motherwell” and “Addo Elephant Park”.  Take a left at the top of the off-ramp and head through to Motherwell.  Follow this road until you come to the entrance to the park on the right.  The distance from Port Elizabeth is around 72km (about an hour’s driving time).

Entry to Addo National Park:

Adults R130 (£12)
Child R65 (£6)
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