Addo Elephant ParkOver 600 elephants, an hour from Port Elizabeth.

From 1 November 2025 to 31 October 2026 the daily Conservation Fee for international visitors is 492 ZAR per adult (from age 12) and 246 ZAR per child aged 2 to 11. Children under 2 are free. South Africans pay 110 ZAR, SADC citizens 225 ZAR. The fee is paid at the gate; SANParks changes it on 1 November each year.

Self-drivers need only an ordinary hire car and pay nothing but the Conservation Fee; that is the cheapest option and you set the pace and the waiting times. A tour is worthwhile if you have no hire car, do not want to drive on the left or value a guide for finding animals. A middle way is the SANParks hop-on guide for 400 ZAR per car and two hours.

One day is enough for the main game area. The drive from the Matyholweni Gate to the Main Camp through the park takes about 2 hours according to SANParks, plus loop roads, waiting time at the Hapoor Dam and a break at the Rest Camp. Four to six hours in the park are a good framework, so with the drive from Port Elizabeth a day of roughly 07:00 to 16:00.

Yes, all five live in the main game area: over 600 elephants, over 400 buffalo, lions (since 2003), black rhinos and leopards. Realistically, day visitors almost always see elephants and buffalo, lions and rhinos with luck, leopards almost never. SANParks itself describes leopards as very rarely seen.

Yes. In your own car you can take a break at any time, and the Rest Camp has a picnic site, a restaurant and a hide at the waterhole. Children under 2 pay no entry, up to 11 half. Children are only allowed on the open SANParks game drives from age 6; for smaller children your own car is the better choice.

The early morning right after the gates open at 07:00 and the late afternoon. According to SANParks, lions are most likely to be seen early in the morning or on sunset and night drives. On hot days the elephant herds come to the Hapoor Dam to bathe in the afternoon.

No. From Cape Town it is around 750 to 850 km depending on the route, that is 8 to 9 hours of pure driving in one direction. Addo is the typical end of a Garden Route trip with an overnight stay in Port Elizabeth, in Colchester or in the park. Day tours sensibly start only from Port Elizabeth or the nearby Garden Route towns.

According to SANParks the Main Gate is open from 07:00 to 19:00 in all months, the Matyholweni Gate from 07:00 to 18:30. The gates to the actual game area follow the season; you get the current times at reception. For day visitors the game area is open from 07:00 to 18:30.

No. The Eastern Cape is malaria-free; the German Federal Foreign Office names only the north-east of Limpopo and Mpumalanga (including Kruger) and parts of KwaZulu-Natal as South Africa's risk areas.

Yes. SANParks writes that the access road and some loop roads are tarred and the remaining gravel roads can be driven in an ordinary vehicle. Only the Bedrogfontein 4x4 trail needs four-wheel drive. In very wet weather gravel stretches may be closed.