A game drive between lots of elephants and wildlife in Addo Park in South Africa
The most know place for a safari in South Africa is undoubtedly Kruger Park, but if you´re not planning to go to that area in your trip, you should think about Addo National Park instead. It´s located in the central part of the country, close to Port Elizabeth, and it can be visited as part of a Garden Route tour.
You may also like:
HOW´S THE GAME DRIVE
Addo Elephant National Park is huge (28,000 hectare), and has lots of wildlife – they even have the big five there!
It can be visited by yourself in your own car, or in a park´s game drive, in an open vehicle. I did both, in my 6-days Garden Route tour with Earthstompers.
The park´s game drive is great, you do it in an truck prepared for safaris, opened in the sides, from where you have a perfect view of the park and the animals.
The first game drive starts very early in the morning, around 6:30 AM, and it gets very cold there. You can borrow a poncho to help (even wearing the poncho and a good jacket under it, I was freezing)!
It lasts about two hours, and you get to see a lot. The animals you see depend totally on the day, on the guide’s experience in following the tracks, and also on luck.
But you´ll definitely see lots of elephants, there are more than 600 in the park! You´ll probably also see elands, kudus, hartebeests, pumbas (warthogs), zebras, buffalos, and if you´re lucky, lions (though they have only 8 in the whole park).
The cool thing about doing the official park´s game drive is that the field guides/drivers are very experienced, and they know how to find the animals. Also, they explain you a lot about their habits and way of life. It costs 320 rands (Oct/16).
You can also do a game drive by yourself, with a regular rented car, as you´re allowed to drive only on the roads at the park. We did it during the Garden Route tour with the van, for about 3 hours, crossing the park from North to South.
BLOGGERS TIP: You can compare the prices of different travel insurances accessing this link, it´s very practical to choose a good one.
ABOUT THE GARDEN ROUTE
On the fifth (and in my case, the last) day of the Garden Route Tour, we woke up very early to do the extra game drive in Addo Elephant Park. This is an optional activity, that starts at 6:30 – who didn´t do it, met the rest of the group at the park around 8:30-9AM for breakfast.
Are you going to the Garden Route? Here you can check all the accommodation options, from hostels to hotels and resorts. And if you book it through this link, you help to maintain this blog online, and you don´t have to pay anything for that.
The early game drive was great, we got to see a lot, and also learned so much about the wildlife with the guide! Also, it´s really cool to do the safari in an open vehicle! The only problem is that I was freezing… haha
Bloggers tip: take some snacks with you to eat before the early safari, as the breakfast is only around 9AM and you´ll be awake since 5:30AM.
After the game drive, we had breakfast at the park´s restaurant, with the rest of the group that didn´t do the extra activity, and went for the second game drive.
This one we did with the van we used during the whole Garden Route tour, and crossed the park from North to South. It took about 3 hours, stopping to take pictures on the way.
Bloggers tip: try to seat close to the window, so that you can take good pictures on the way.
After we left the partk, we passed by Plettenberg Bay, which is a very popular beach among Young people during summer time, and arrived in Jeffreys Bay around 2PM. There we stopped for having lunch (the tour usually stops at Port Elizabeth).
This was the end of my Garden Route tour with Earthstompers, as from there I´d keep traveling to the Eastern side. The regular tour goes on, and after Port Elizabeth/Jeffreys Bay you drive for about 3 hours until Wilderness, where you sleep.
OBS: if you do the whole Garden Route tour, on the 6th day you go to Mossel Bay, where you can practice tandem sky diving or sand board, as optional activities. You arrive back to Cape Town on the 6th day early in the evening.
How about you? Have you already been to the Garden Route and have some cool tips about the city? Or do you plan to visit it and have some doubts? Share your ideas leaving a comment here!
If you like this post, please share it! Sharing is caring! =)
Planning your trip:
– Accommodation: you can book your accommodation here – hotels/hostels comparing and free booking cancel
– Travel Insurance: compare different prices of travel insurances and choose the best option
———————
The blogger did the Garden Route Tour by invitation of Earthstompers. I’d like to thank again for the opportunity, and also make it clear that all the opinions present here are independent and personal.
