Port Elizabeth & Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa (1/12/2023) - A Safari Day Trip

Port Elizabeth & Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa (1/12/2023) - A Safari Day Trip

Elephants - Addo Elephant National Park

Located at the end of the picturesque Garden Route, Port Elizabeth is one of South Africa’s oldest cities located on the warm Indian Ocean coast with beautiful soft-sand beaches. Many fun adventures are offered here. We chose a game viewing drive of Addo Elephant National Park.

Zebras - Baby Just Born

Located 45 miles north of Port Elizabeth Addo Elephant National Park is the third largest and one of the most diverse national parks in South Africa with 700 free roaming African Elephants (see photo above) - you are pretty much guaranteed to see these large elephants along with kudus. Although harder to see, also located here are the Cape buffalo (see photo below), black rhinos, lions, leopards, zebras (see photo), spotted hyenas, numerous antelope, and more than 185 species of birds.

Map - Addo

Interesting fact... 90 years ago when Addo Elephant National Park was established, there were only 11 elephants. Years ago, elephants were considered a pest to farmers and they killed them - the ones with the valuable tusks first leaving the mutant elephants without tusks to reproduce. Today, many of the elephants do not have tusks.

 

 

Cape Buffalo - Addo Elephant National Park

Port Elizabeth’s Addo Elephant National Park has 5 different vegetation biomes - Albany Thicket, Forest, Fynbos, Nama Karoo, and the Indian Ocean Coastal Belt. Whales watching is popular in season in the Bay as well as thousands of dolphins. 

Wayne & Pat Dunlap

Although, animals are much more abundant in South Africa’s Kruger National Park, Botswana’s Okavango Delta, and the game viewing and great migration in Kenya’s Masai Mara and Tanzania’s Serengeti, Addo Elephant National Park makes for a fun game viewing excursion from Port Elizabeth when you are in South Africa. We went with Alan Tours for an excellent drive, including lunch, with a well-informed guide. Alan Tours offers tours throughout South Africa as well as in Namibia, Mozambique, Uganda, and Lesotho.

Safari 'Big Five' Game Viewing

Interesting African Safari fact... The term “Big Five” originally referred to the difficulty in hunting the lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and African buffalo. These five large African mammal species were known to be dangerous and it was considered a feat by trophy hunters to bring them home. It is rare to see all these at Addo Elephant National Park.

King's Beach - Port Elizabeth

Port Elizabeth has a number of wonderful beaches including the Blue Flag King's Beach (with kiosks, restaurants, skate park, and other entertainment facilities close by), Wells Estate Beach (with its paddling pool and water slides), and Humewood Beach. Also, there is the family-friendly Hobie Beach with sheltered rock pools. Pollock Beach is a top surfing spot and unspoiled Sardinia Bay in a marine reserve is great for snorkeling and scuba diving. 

Map - Algoa Bay Port Elizabeth

In the clear waters of Port Elizabeth's beautiful Algoa Bay (see map), water sports are one of the top things to do including surfing, sailing, swimming, fishing, windsurfing, kiteboarding, and scuba diving. A Blue Flag beach is rated for cleanliness, safety, lifeguards, and facilities like showers and clean public toilets.

The Boardwalk - Port Elizabeth

Located in Summerstrand (12-minute walk from the beach), Port Elizabeth’s The Boardwalk is a leisure resort and convention center on an artificial lake (see photo). There are plenty of things to do here such as boutiques and specialty stores, restaurants and cafes, and entertainment venues including a five-screen cinema, amphitheater hosting live shows, amusement arcade, bowling alley, and adventure golf. The fitness center features two pools and you can relax at the full-service spa. At night, The Boardwalk comes alive with a musical fountain show.

Map - Port Elizabeth South Africa

A note about ‘Load Sharing’ in South Africa… periodically electricity is lost randomly day and night in Port Elizabeth. Hotels, restaurants, attractions, etc. are prepared for this because it happens daily. Commonly there is a light powered by a battery that you can turn on (we could read with it) and some places.have backup generators. It would be good to bring a small flashlight to use at night.

Click on these links to view other places we visited in Southern Africa...

Cape Town, South Africa

Garden Route, South Africa

Stellenbosch Cape Winelands Wine Region, South Africa

Richards Bay and Hluhluve Game Reserve, South Africa - A Safari Day Trip

Durban and uShaka Marine World, South Africa 

Oudtshoorn & Cango Caves, South Africa

Hermanus, South Africa

Chobe National Park, Botswana - A Safari Day Trip

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe & Zambia

Walvis Bay, Namibia 

 

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