This is an elephant park situated near Port Elizabeth in South Africa. It’s located in the dense valley of the Sundays River region. This Eastern Cape game park offers a memorable wildlife experience and is home to the Big 7 - Elephant, Rhino, Buffalo, Lion, Leopard, Whale and the Great White Shark.
The original section of the park was founded in 1931 to provide a sanctuary for the eleven remaining elephants in the area. The park has proved to be very successful and currently houses more than 450 elephants, 400 Cape buffalo, over 48 endangered black rhino as well as a variety of antelope species. Lion and spotted hyena has also recently been re-introduced to the area. A species unique to the area is the flightless dung beetle, namely Circellium bacchus.
The original park has subsequently been expanded to include the Woody Cape Nature Reserve that extends from the Sundays River mouth towards Alexandria and a marine reserve, which includes St. Croix Island and Bird Island, an important breeding habitat for gannets and penguins, not to mention a large variety of other marine life. |
Elephant at Addo Park |
Bird Island is home to the world's largest breeding colony of gannets - about 120,000 birds - and also hosts the second largest breeding colony of African penguins. This forms part of the plan to expand the 1,480 km² Addo National Elephant Park into a 3,600 km² Greater Addo Elephant National Park.
It’s probably the only park in the world to house the so-called "Big 7" (elephant, rhinoceros, lion, buffalo, leopard, whale and great white shark) in their natural habitat.
Accommodation
There are several luxury private lodges in the park. Guests can eat at the restaurants or take their own food and cook it in the kitchen or have a barbeque on your patio while watching elephants pass by. The lodges are:
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River Bend Country Lodge: This is a luxury country lodge situated in the Sundays River Valley, near Port Elizabeth. |
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Elephant House: This is a Luxury Colonial-style lodge. |
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Kuzuko Lodge: This is a remote, luxury safari lodge bordering Addo Elephant Park. |
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Gorah Elephant Camp: A Luxury tented accommodation lying in the heart of the park. |
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Nguni River Lodge: A deluxe Safari Lodge in a private concession of the park. |
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Intsomi Forest Lodge: This is a private forest lodge in the indigenous coastal forest section of the Addo National Park. |
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