Eastern Cape
South Africa
35
An area of South Africa really coming to the fore of tourism is the Eastern Cape. Traditional home of the Xhosa people and birthplace of Nelson Mandela, this is a great place to start or end your trip along the Garden Route. The area is Malaria-free which is an added bonus for families. Visit Addo Elephant National Park: a park running from inland to the coast and where it’s possible to see the Big 7. Inland are some spectacular private wildlife Reserves offering a range of accommodation and many involved in conservation projects protecting rhino, lion and cheetah. Grahamstown and surrounding areas were the site of many battles, where the Xhosa fought the British and the Trek Boers, mostly over land and particularly the nearby Great Fish River and numerous wars were fought over the hundred years from 1779-1881. Today there are historic forts and many wonderful old buildings and memorials to be explored.
REGION MAP
TOUR
Full Day Addo Elephant Park
Grahamstown
Shamwari GR Bayeti GR
Kariega GR Emlanjeni PGR
Addo Elephant Park Hopewell GR
Port Elizabeth
Thomas Baines NR
Spend a day with elephants, and you’ll learn something of yourself. Addo Elephant National Park is now the third largest national park in South Africa expanding to conserve the wide diversity of biodiversity, landscapes, fauna and flora. Stretching from the semiarid karoo area in the north around Darlington Dam, over the rugged Zuurberg Mountains, through the Sundays River valley and south to the coast between Sundays River mouth and Bushman’s river mouth, Addo covers about 180,000 hectares and includes the Bird and St Croix Island groups. The original elephant section of the park was proclaimed in 1931, when only sixteen elephants remained in the area. Today this finely tuned ecosystem is sanctuary to over 550 elephants, lions, buffalo, black rhino, spotted hyena, leopard, a variety of antelope and zebra species, as well as the unique Addo flightless dung beetle, found almost exclusively in Addo. And their Addo has only just begun, with plans to expand the Park into a 264,000 hectare mega-park. In addition, plans include the proposed proclamation of a 120,000 hectare marine protected area that includes islands that are home to the world’s largest breeding populations of Cape gannets and largest breeding population of endangered African penguins. Addo is arguably, the best elephant viewing in South Africa, and with a full day at your disposal, you’ll have the leisure time for close encounters with these gentle giants. From ZAR 1225
All “From Prices” for accommodation are “per room” and tours are “per person” and Value Add offers relate to specific travel periods - please enquire for further information and quotes.