ANIMALS
This park offers some of the most spectacular elephant viewing in the world. Addo’s over 450 elephants, over 400 Cape buffalo, 48 black rhino, a variety of antelope species, as well as the unique flightless dung beetle, found almost exclusively in Addo. The buffalo is one of the largest disease-free herds in South Africa.

Six lions were introduced into the park in late 2003 and have adapted well to their new environment. Lions are most often seen in the early morning or on sunset and night drives.

Spotted hyenas were also reintroduced in 2003, fulfilling the same role as lions in restoring the natural balance to the ecosystems in the park by controlling the numbers of herbivores. Leopard are very seldom seen, being shy and secretive animals, but do occur in most areas of the expanded park.

Antelope species abundant in the main game area of the park include red hartebeest, eland, kudu, Warthog and bushbuck. The Burchell’s zebra, many with the pale rumps reminiscent of the extinct qwagga, occur in the park.

Did you know that …
• The park conserves no less than five of South Africa’s seven biomes?
• Is also home to one of the densest African elephant populations on earth?
• It is home to the unique flightless dung beetle?
• Addo incorporates the largest coastal dune field in the southern hemisphere?
• The park boasts the Big Seven: (elephant, rhino, lion, buffalo, leopard, southern right whale and great white shark)?
• It also protects the world’s largest Cape gannet breeding population on Bird Island?

FACILITIES IN THE PARK
• A fuel station which provides petrol and diesel between the hours of 7 AM and 5 PM.
• A curio shop which also sells snacks and basic supplies open from 8 AM to 6 PM (times are subject to seasonal change).
• An a la carte restaurant in the main camp, serving meals throughout the day (7 AM to 10 PM ). Bookings are advised.

GAME VIEWING IN THE PARK
You can view all the animals in Addo from the comfort of your own vehicle and explore the more than 75 kilometres of road looking for animals. Making use of a guide can just make it easier as we know all the favourite spots they hang out. After visting the park for more than 30 years it is now 2nd nature to us.

OTHER OPTIONS below are also available which can be booked in the park if you wish not to use your own vehicle but a open top Safari vehicle.

Day drives
Departing 09:00, 12:00 and 15:00 – viewing may include herds of elephant, antelope, zebra , warthog and ostrich.

Sunset drive
Departing 16:00 (winter) or 18:00 (summer) – enjoy late afternoon viewing, snacks & drinks as the sun goes down and then some night time viewing – black rhino, buffalo, lions and antelope may be seen.

Night drive
Departing 18:00 (winter) or 20:00 (summer) – dress warmly and discover the secrets of night time in the bush: springhares, porcupines, genets

This is the ultimate for a first time visitor to South Africa with limited time to see as much wildlife in the shortest time possible on their South African holidays. Here you will have the best photo opportunities that you will not find in any other reserve. The reserve is the oldest private game viewing reserve in the Eastern Cape, bordering the eastern side of Addo Elephant National Park.

This malaria free reserve is probably the most densely stocked reserve in Africa, and with over 40 mammal species and approximately 2000 animals, can offer consistently good game viewing throughout the year. It was the first reserve in the Cape Province to have free roaming lions and we can almost guarantee sightings of these magnificent animals on every game drive. This is a four hour guided game drive in an open Land Rover with a short refreshments and toilet break at the halfway point. It is a private game reserve and the guide can take the guests as close as possible to get the best viewing of rhino, hippo, giraffe and the king of the beasts, lion! The guide try to show the guests as much as possible on a drive and concentrate on the popular sightings rather than ‘the birds and the bees’.

The reserve has a huge open air lapa, reputedly among the largest in South Africa. Inside the lapa there are several large trees and a roaring log fire. Dinner is usually a mix of safari cuisine and traditional South African cooking; the exact menu depends on what is available on the day.

After dinner a short, spotlit nightdrive providing the possibility of more nocturnal animals completes your experience as we return to our reception area.

The Cheetah Breeding project was established in May 2001 and started with just three cats. It has since grown with breeding, purchase and swapping of animals.

The aim of this project is to play a part in the conservation of Cheetah’s (Acinonyx jabatus), the re-establishment of pure gene lines, as well as educating people to the importance of conserving these amazing species.

The cheetah project offers a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ experience where visitors do not only get an interesting, personalized tour, but actually get to interact with the animals. Visitors are encouraged to touch the cheetahs and have photographs with some of them. We believe this opens people’s eyes to the importance of the Cheetah’s conservation.

The Tsitsikamma Canopy Tour© is a unique eco-wilderness adventure that takes place in the magnificent Tsitsikamma indigenous rainforest.

The first of its kind in Africa, the canopy tour involves traversing from one platform to another along a steel cable suspended up to 30 meters above the forest floor…

Most platforms are located in giant Outeniqua Yellowwood trees. The scenery and bird life is spectacular and professional guides provide interesting facts about the forest ecology during the 2½ to 3 hours.

The concept of guiding people through the upper canopy of a rainforest originated in Costa Rica, where adventurous biologists devised new methods for accessing the forest canopy in order to conduct research on the undiscovered canopy ecosystem. The idea soon developed into a breathtaking form of eco-tourism which allowed people to enter and experience a previously inaccessible natural environment.

Construction of the Tsitsikamma Canopy Tour© has been done in accordance with strict civil engineering standards. The system was designed and created by an adventurous civil engineer who constructed a similar canopy tour in Costa Rica. The safety standards have been significantly enhanced and the Tsitsikamma Canopy Tour© uses state of the art equipment and has been rated as the most sophisticated of it’s kind in the world. Concept to completion took fourteen and a half months.

The tour begins with a detailed safety briefing followed by a ‘kitting up’ session where full body harness, pulleys and climbing equipment is issued and checked. A short drive into the Tsitsikamma forest and it is time to monkey around!

From the start on the launch platform a new world unfolds as one gently glides on a steel cable to the first tree platform. All groups are escorted through the forest canopy by a lead guide and a follow guide to ensure your safety as you slide from tree to tree. The platforms, built high up in the giant Outeniqua Yellowwoods, provide an unbelievable view of this enchanting new world – any fear of heights is soon lost as you gather in your new surroundings…

Spend a couple of minutes relaxing while your guides enthusiastically explain the ecology of the forest – pointing out different trees and the magnificent giant ferns way below. The bird life is incredible. Knysna Loeries, sightings of the elusive Narina Trogon and the Vervet monkey are not uncommon.

The Tsistikamma Canopy Tour© consists of 10 platforms and 10 ‘fufi’ slides, the longest of which is 100m! About three hours later you exit the forest, having undertaken the journey of a lifetime. You have contributed to the creation of new jobs and are helping the forest regeneration project.

The concrete and steel bridge spans the gorge 216 exhilarating metres above the Bloukrans River. It is the longest singlespan bridge in Africa, but that’s not its main attraction. What people gather to see is not the view or the bridge, impressive though each may be. They come to share in the breathtaking experience of falling off!

Technically, it’s a 216 m jump, but in reality the jumpers simply lean forward out over that enormous emptiness and drop away, head first. The carefully calculated length of cord is attached to the ankles, and, of course, to the bridge. The gentle yo-yo effect is part of the experience in which the adrenaline-pumping free fall lasts no more than a few of the most memorable seconds of anyone’s life!

Once the motion has been reduced to a gentle arc, an operator is lowered to help the jumper get the right way up again, ready to be hauled back up to the roadside. For those who simply want to watch, there is a viewing platform with a spectacular view at the side of the Bloukrans Bridge.