Addo Elephant Park is one of the notable conservation success stories of South Africa. It is now one of the foremost malaria-free game parks in the country, only 1 hours’ drive from Port Elizabeth.

The Addo elephant was saved from near extinction in the early 20th century when the elephants were nearly all shot to protect the crops of new frontier farmers. In the space of one year 120 elephants were shot until only 15 remained. In the face of a national and international outcry, the hunt was called off and later the elephants' survival was assured when the area was proclaimed a National Park in 1931.

Now Addo has one of the densest elephant populations in Africa. The Addo Elephant Park offers excellent close-up elephant encounters as well as black rhino, lion, Cape buffalo, antelope, not forgetting the endangered flightless dung beetle! The now sizeable elephant herds are partly due to the unique Addo Valley bushveld. The dominant plant is the pink flowered Spekboom which is a favourite food for elephants.

The Addo Elephant Park has been enlarged in recent years to become the third largest National Park in South Africa, conserving a wide diversity of biodiversity, landscapes, fauna and flora. It now includes the Zuurberg Mountains to the north (30 mins drive) and the Bushmans River to the south. You choose between staying at one of the lovely country lodges adjacent to the park which offer their own game drives, or one of the private concessions within the park.

Other activities include horse trails, elephant back safaris, guided hiking and mountain biking all in the Zuurberg mountains as well as guided canoeing down the Sundays River.