SANParks.org Forums

thank you all very much for you time given in answering me. info given was excellent. think we will probably book into a drive as well as doing one of our own. Am so excited about it all as this will a first for me. this forum is an excellent way of finding out information.
Thanks again everyone.
Shirley

Hi Shirley,

Either way you will NOT be dissappointed. The staff are second to none when it comes to friendliness.
Also enquire about either an evening or night drive as well. You may well be lucky enough to spot Bat-eared fox, Aardvark, etc Not to mention the awsome impression you get of an elephant by torchlight too.

I hope you have a truly memorable visit in Addo.

Nick

Welcome Shirley
Your question has pretty much been answered but basically you don't need to book for a day visit (you can just arrive and pay entrance fees = conservation fees at the gate), only for guided activities or for overnight accommodation. You can pay for guided activities on arrival at the Park while accommodation requires a pre-payment to secure your booking.
Enjoy the visit!

thanks for all your help and advice. looking forward to visiting addo elephant park and of course the rest of south africa.

Hi Shirley.

The advantage of having a guided drive is that the guide will (hopefully) pass on knowledge.

The road setup in the park is such that you will struggle to get lost and can drive the whole park yourselves in half a day.

I hope this helps.

Hi
I'm new here!

We are arriving in Cape Town in August. We are there for 3 weeks. We hope to do some sort of safari. After lots of googling I think we want to fly from cape Town to Port Elizabeth and hire a car to drive to Addo. We would like to self drive during the day and then perhaps book an evening or night safari. The plan is to stay in the park for 1 or 2 night before returning to Port Elizabeth to fly back to Cape Town. There will be 2 adults and one 11 year old travelling.
We have never been to South Africa before, so hoping that someone can advise us on whether this is the best way to do a safari from Cape Town or if there are any better alternatives.
Also what is the food like in Addo, are we better eating in the restaurant or self catering?

Thanks in advance

Hi
How much of your holiday have you already booked?
There is a huge amount to see and do between Cape town and Port Elizabeth and it would be a shame to miss it all.
Regards
JDW

We've booked return flights from the UK to Cape Town plus 3 weeks accomodation. 1st week in Seapoint then 2 weeks in Strand. They are timeshare exchanges.
We really want to do a safari so are quite happy to waste the 2 nights accomodation.

I do agree with JDW - if you are prepared to take the time to rather drive to PE from CT, I do not believe you will be sorry, perhaps stopping a night along the way at Storms River for eg. The drive between PE and CT is very scenic and the roads good.

You do need to spend at least two nights in Addo to give yourselves a good safari experience. Do try and do a sunset/night drive.

Food wise - do both, some self catering, and the restaurant.

Welcome to the forums enterprize

Addo is a very good choice! The park is great, the accomodations are very nice, the staff are nice and the wildlife is varied. The self drive is the best option and if you want to get some expert info on animals and park an evening drive is what you need. Do spend at least 2 nights

If you feel like "loosing" another two night, go to Storms river Mouth, it is a wonderful place

Hi
I have done this type of holiday twice before and we are returning for a third time in September travelling over a three week period from Cape Town to Addo / Port Elizabeth.
I am a very experienced driver and would not advise people to drive the complete distance between the two places in a single day, it is exhausting and although the roads are good driving in a foreign country is always stressful.
Considering what you are committed to I would suggest something like the following:
a. 1st 10 day get out and about in the Cape Town area with lots of day trips to Cape Point, Simons Town (Penquins), Hermanus (Whales) and the wine route etc.
b. Drive to Storm river taking a leasurely route including Knysna and other places on route stay two nights. It is absolutely fantastic (look & that part of this website) you will fall in love with the place. During the day visit local attractions. Sitting on your private varanda looking West and watching the sun go down with a barbeque and a glass of wine is out of this world.
c. Travel to Addo for aleast 2 nights and do both self and organised drives. Addo is a wonderful park and is easily seen in the time you have. Most of the roads are suitable for standard road cars. You do not need 4x4 or large off road vehicles.
d. Return to Cape Town directly or stop off for another night at Storm River or even Kynsna, the hotel on the Quay where there are nice reasonable inexpensive restuarants, bars and cloths shops etc is something I would recommend and a trip on the lagoon.
If I can be of further help please PM me

Regards
JDW

Hi enterprize and welcome! Very good advice given here!

If I were you I would try to cancell 1 weeks accommodation in the Strand, and spend that time driving up to Addo and back, as the other forumites have recommended. (2 to 3 nights in Addo)

Another option that is available now in Addo is the Hop On Guides - you drive but pick up a Hop On Guide at the game viewing area gate, and he/she will try to direct you to the parts of the park where there have been good sightings. This option can be done for a few hours or the whole day, depending on what you want. I know that this service is being offered from the Main camp.

Having said that, Addo is an easy park to self drive, so I suggest that you do spend some time on your own in the park - there is nothing like finding your own ellie or lion etc. Happy travels!

Hi

I would rather drive from cape Town to Addo. There are even two alternative routes for the two directions.
cape Town - Worcestor - Montagu - Oudtshoorn - Joubertine - PE - Addo
and
Addo - PE - Stormsrivermouth (plan a 60 min stop here) - Plet - Knysna (beautifull Garden Route)- George - Swellendam - Caledon - Cape Town
Even with an 08:00 start these are easy drives.
Stay 3 nights in Addo so that you have two full days for self drives.

Hello,

we're visiting Addo NP in november,
on november 6th we'll must be at the airport in PE around 7h00 (flight at 8h10).

Is it doable to stay at Addo Main Camp the night before and leave there at 6h00 to be in time at PE airport ?

When staying at Addo main camp is it possible to leave anytime during the night or can we only exit the main camp at fixed times ?

regards,
Karel.

Hi Karel,

You will be able to exit the camp before the gate officially open as there is a guard on duty there overnight