Find the perfect accommodations at Addo Elephant park
Looking for the perfect lodge or accommodations at Addo Elephant National Park? Well! Before you start, let us tell you about the park.
Addo Elephant National Park is in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, bordering Port Elizabeth and East London on its western edge and extends east to just before Grahamstown. Addo has a total area of 643 square kilometres with an average elevation between 100-320 meters above sea level, giving it exceptional diversity for both fauna and flora as well as varied topography ranging from flat coastal plains to rolling hills that rise steeply into mountains.
What is Addo Elephant National Park?
Addo Elephant National Park was established to preserve natural habitats that would otherwise be destroyed by human development and settlement. The variety of unique landscapes, fauna and flora found at one location makes this such a special place for visitors from all over the world to experience something different every time they visit.
Where: The Addo Elephant National Park is located in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa.
Size: The park covers an area of 686.000 hectares.
Animals: The park is home to African big 5 elephants, lions, leopards, rhinos, buffaloes and many others.
Activities: There are many activities to do in the park, such as game drives, safari walks and boat trips.
Accommodation: There is a range of accommodation options available in the park including lodges, campsites and self-catering units.
What are the different types of accommodation and lodges available at Addo Elephant National Park?
Types of Accommodations at Addo Elephant Park
Addo Elephant National Park has a number of different lodges that offer accommodation for visitors. There are luxury lodges, such as the Addo Elephant Back Safari Lodge, as well as more affordable options like the Addo Rest Camp.
Tented Camps:
If you’re looking for a more rustic experience, there are also a number of tented camps available in the park. These camps provide basic accommodation but offer visitors the opportunity to get closer to nature.
Huts:
For those wanting to really rough it, there are also a number of huts located throughout the park. These huts provide very basic accommodation but offer visitors an even more intimate experience with nature.
Lodges:
Why “roughing it” in the wilderness when you can enjoy the comforts of Addo Elephant National Park offers? The lodges and suites that are available in Addo immediately conjure up words like “indulgence” and “comfort.”
A luxury lodge is a private, exclusive and often secluded accommodation, usually located in natural surroundings.
What do they offer: Luxury lodges offer a wide range of facilities and services, from fine dining and spa treatments to game drives and bush walks.
Addo Rest Camp
The Addo Rest Camp is located in the heart of the Addo Elephant National Park, close to all the main attractions.
The subterranean blinds and floodlit waterhole offer a unique vantage point inside the camp. They offer close encounters with the wildlife. Lions, spotted hyenas, and jackal sounds punctuate the evenings, and francolin and bokmakierie birds call in the dawn. Facilities including the swimming pool, restaurant, and shop are within easy walking distance.
Features:
The Rest Camp offers a variety of accommodation options to suit all budgets, including chalets, bungalows, campsites and self-catering units. There are also a number of facilities and activities on offer, such as a swimming pool, restaurant, bar, laundry service and game drives.
Activities:
There are plenty of things to do at the Addo Rest Camp, including game drives (both day and night), bush walks, bird watching and visits to the Addo Elephant Back Water Canal.
Kabouga
Spend time in northern Addo Elephant National Park exploring this rugged landscape that surrounds Kabouga. Be prepared to photograph the Red Hartebeest, Zebras, Klipspringers, and Warthog. There is an abundance of wildlife. The terrain in this part of the park is quite rugged. You will need a 4 x 4 vehicle to traverse this region. Discover the intriguing tale of a long-running conflict between the British and Boers that took place across these rocky valleys and mountain summits.
Accommodation:
Kabouga offers a variety of accommodation options to suit all budgets, including camping, self-catering chalets and lodges.
Features:
This area of the park is home to a variety of wildlife, including elephants, lions, buffalo and antelope. There are also a number of hiking trails and bird watching opportunities.
Matyholweni Rest Camp
The Matyholweni Camp in the Addo Elephant Park serves as a second entrance to the park and is conveniently located. The surrounding town has amenities, including stores, restaurants, and a gas station.a.
Accommodations:
There are 12 lodging options in Matyholweni Camp in Addo Elephant Park. Only three of these flats can accommodate three people, while the remainder only have enough for two. Two homes include wheelchair accessibility features.
Note:
Accommodation fees do not include the park entrance fees.
Narina Bush Camp
Looking for a truly secluded experience? At the base of the Zuurberg Mountains, you will find the Narina Bush Camp resting on the banks of the Wit River. A 500-meter trek through the forest and a river bridge are required to reach the camp.
No electricity, you say? Arrive at least an hour before sundown.
Features:
Narina Bush Camp is a secluded and intimate tented camp located in the heart of Addo Elephant National Park. The camp offers guests the opportunity to experience the bush, no luxuries, minimal comfort. A truly outdoor safari experience.
Activities:
There are a variety of activities available to guests at Narina Bush Camp, including game drives, safari walks and bird watching.
Nyathi Rest Camp
For those who wish to take advantage of everything Addo offers from a private area of the Park, Nyathi Rest Camp is perfect.
Each accommodation unit at Nyathi, is built on the banks of a floodplain, offering breathtaking views.
Features:
There are eleven units at the camp. Eight two-sleeper units, one four-sleeper unit, and two family units with six beds. There is also a swimming pool on site.
While the interior design of the apartments is influenced by the spherical leaves of the spekboom, which are prevalent throughout the park, the building is influenced by African culture. The apartments feel more realistic thanks to copper piping and taps as well.
Activities:
There are various activities available to guests at the Nyathi Rest Camp, such as game drives, bird watching and hiking.
On a warm day, jump into the splash pool, and relax watching the wildlife drink from the waterhole.
Spekboom Tented Rest Camp
Exclusive camping right next to a hide/waterhole Addo Elephant National park. The tents included amenities like fresh linens, cozy mattresses, and sufficient cutlery and braai utensils. The waterhole was cleverly positioned in the heart of Spekboom and other trees, and there were several close encounters with elephant herds consuming water there. Lions roaring, hyena and jackal howling, and Spotted Thicknee bird cries made up the nighttime noises.
Features:
Safari Camping at its finest. There are five tents available, each with two mattresses and beds.
Each tent features a table, a braai unit, two camp chairs, and a solar-powered lamp. A short distance from the tents are two shared hot water showers, two toilets, and a washing up sink. At the tent, there is a utility box available, containing a cooking set, BBQ tongs, plates for 2 along with bowls, forks, and steak knifes.
Activities:
Viewing and photographing the wildlife up close and in its natural environment.
Woody Cape
The Greater Addo Elephant National Park currently includes the Woody Cape Nature Reserve. When you awaken, you will hear a symphony of birds flying across the forest canopy. At night, pay attention to the eerie sounds of the uncommon tree dassie.
Both hikers on the two-day Alexandria Hiking Trail and those just looking for an overnight stay in the forest can use the Langebos huts.
Accommodation:
Langebos Huts may be reserved “simultaneously,” giving tourists access to the camp even if they don’t reserve the second hut. Each hut is intelligently designed with an open floor plan and a fully-functional kitchen. There are two bedrooms and each hut can accommodate up to four people.
Addo Dung Beetle Guest Farm
Perched on its own mountaintop with a view of the stunning Zuurberg Mountains, is where the Addo Dung Beetle Guest Farm rests. just 4 kilometres from the Addo Elephant National Park’s main entrance.
Features:
There are 5 luxury Chalets, 3 bush cabins that are self-catering, 2 sleeper queen suites, and 2 twin suites.
A unique feature of the Dung Beetle Luxury Chalets are the chandeliers which are made from the local Sneezewood trees. The Chalets are furnished with air conditioners and include a heating option. The headboards and bedside tables are all constructed from a variety of regional wood species, Yellow Wood, Oak, Sneeze Wood, and Black Wood.
Activities:
Guests can enjoy game drives in the national park, as well as guided walks and hikes, quad rides and Elephant riding safaris
A detailed list of all the activities may be viewed at the desk, and activities are catered to both adventure seekers and relaxers.
Addo Elephant Park’s best hotels!
Elephant House
Just 8 kilometres from the main gates of Addo National Park, is the Elephant House is a truly family-run resort in the sun-drenched Sundays River Valley. Offering hearty meals, warm smiles, and traditional South Africa hospitality.
This is the spot to spend steamy summer days’ poolside, nod off while reading on the verandah. Toast the end of a day after touring the spectacular Addo Elephant National Park or and snuggle up with loved ones on a cold winter night in front of a crackling fire.
Features:
Bedrooms are warm, inviting and well furnished with doors opening to individual verandas. Hand-crafted thatch and timber ceilings, rough plastered walls, plush furniture, and sumptuous bedding. Doesn’t all this sound great? Well! That is only the main house.
On five acres of undulating lawns filled with native trees and aloes, there are six Cape-style Stable Cottages. Two of the cottages are family homes, and each one has a verandah and access to the pool.
Activities:
Elephant House provides a variety of wildlife watching opportunities in the malaria-free Addo Elephant National Park and the surrounding region, as well as some great cultural experiences and recreational pursuits, to help make your vacation as memorable as possible.
Ikwanitsha Lodge
On a peaceful ridge near Paterson, the Ikwanitsha Guest House is situated halfway between the Addo Elephant National Park and Shamwari Game Reserve. Wooden-pole-supported chalets provide a breathtaking view over the neighbouring valley, the Bushmans River, and the Zuurberg mountains.
Amenities:
Every chalet has a Queen-sized bed, a small kitchen, a bathroom with a shower and a toilet, a covered porch, and an outside patio.
Activities:
Game drives to Addo Elephant National Park, Schotia Safari, Cheetah breeding farm, zip lines and walks on the beach.
Things to do in Addo Elephant National Park
Self-drive safaris
A self-drive safari in Addo Elephant National Park is an unforgettable experience. You can expect to see a variety of wildlife, including elephants, lions, leopards, and buffalo. The scenery is also breathtaking, with mountains, forests, and rivers.
Duration:
The duration of a self-drive safari in Addo Elephant National Park depends on your itinerary. A typical 3-day safari includes game drives and stops at various lookout points.
Game drives from your accommodation
When you go on a game drive in Addo Elephant National Park, you can expect to see a variety of different animals. The most common animals that you will see are elephants, lions, buffalo and rhinos. You may also see some less common animals such as leopards, giraffes and zebra.
Spotting the Big Five in Addo National Park, and its wildlife
There’s a strong possibility that you’ve heard of the big 5 of Africa. The five most spectacular and intimidating land animals. The most dangerous African wildlife to hunt were first recognized as the Big Five: lion, Cape buffalo, elephant, leopard, and rhino. Thousands of people take an African Safari each year to visit the national parks and wildlife reserves to admire rather than hunt, thanks to international conservation efforts.
Admire the stealthy leopard’s capability to climb a tree with its kill. Be astonished by the size of the African elephants as they emerge from the forest. You will be amazed at the Cape buffalo’s big, black eyes lined with impossibly long lashes as it cools off at a watering hole. The lion, king of the wilderness, is additionally impressive. Observe the rhinoceros, an endangered species that still fights for survival because of poachers This is the African Big Five, and they are in the park. If the truth be told, Addo Elephant National Park is the only Big Seven national park in the world. The Big Five plus two! Southern right whale and the great white shark, both are found in Algoa Bay’s marine protected area.
What to do if you see them. If you see any of the Big Five while you are in Addo Elephant National Park, it is important to stay calm and not panic. Make sure to keep your distance, do not try to approach them. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact a park ranger.
Best time to visit Addo Elephant National Park
The best time to visit Addo Elephant National Park is during the dry season from May to September. This is when the animals are most active and the vegetation is not too dense, making game viewing easier. As water becomes a more limited resource, wildlife will congregate near waterholes, creating good possibilities for viewing and photographing.
Conclusion about Accommodations at Addo Elephant Park
We hope you enjoyed our guide to finding the perfect accommodation at Addo Elephant National Park. Be sure to check out our other post on an African Photo Safari for more great tips on planning your trip.