The Big Five finish to the Garden Route, a malaria-free park past the eastern end of the road. Around 600 elephants, lion, buffalo and the rest, all an hour from Port Elizabeth and easy to self-drive.
Addo Elephant National Park is the safari finish to the Garden Route, the reason to keep driving east rather than turning back. It sits in the Eastern Cape about 60 km north of Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), just past the end of the route, and it’s malaria-free, which makes it one of the easiest Big Five parks in the country to visit, children included.
The elephants are the headline, and there are a lot of them, around 600 in a park that was set up in 1931 to save the last handful in the area. They gather at the waterholes through the day, often in big herds, and the rest of the Big Five, lion, buffalo, leopard and rhino, share the thick spekboom bush with kudu, zebra, warthog and the protected flightless dung beetle that has right of way on the roads.
You can do it two ways. Self-driving is cheap and flexible: pay the conservation fee at the gate, around R492 a day for an international adult, and take the loops at your own pace, with the floodlit waterhole at the main camp good after dark. Or take a guided open 4x4 with a ranger, which sits you higher and finds more, on half- or full-day trips from Gqeberha and the gate. Either way, go early or late for the best of the movement, and finish the Garden Route on a high before flying home from Gqeberha.
Big Five game viewing, self-drive or guided, malaria-free and easy from the coast.
Pay the conservation fee at the gate and take the tarred and gravel loops at your own pace. The main camp waterhole pulls in elephants through the day, and you'll meet kudu, zebra, warthog and the protected flightless dung beetle on the roads. The cheapest and most flexible way to do Addo.
A guided drive in an open vehicle sits you higher, with a ranger who knows where the animals are and reads the tracks. Dawn and dusk drives catch the best of the movement, and half- or full-day trips run from Gqeberha and the Addo gate, often with lunch.
Both work well in Addo. Self-driving is cheap and flexible; a guided open 4x4 sits you higher and finds more, especially the cats.
Animals move most at dawn and dusk, and rest up in the heat of the day. Be at the gate when it opens, or save the late afternoon for game viewing.
The waterhole at the main rest camp is floodlit and viewable after dark, a good place to end the day with a drink and the elephants.
The flightless dung beetle is protected and has right of way, with road signs to match. Watch for them rolling across the road.
Addo is malaria-free, so it's an easy Big Five park to visit with children, with no prophylaxis to worry about.
Drive on east from Tsitsikamma to finish the Garden Route on a safari, then fly home from Gqeberha (PE) rather than turning back.
Book a guided safari or a drive with pickup through our trusted partners, at the same price as booking direct.
A full day in the park with a guide and game drives, the easy way to see the Big Five without the driving.
Book on GetYourGuide →A shorter guided game drive in an open vehicle, with a ranger to track the animals. Good if you're tight on time.
See game drives →A guided Addo safari with hotel pickup in Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), drive in and game viewing sorted.
See safaris with pickup →Lodges and guesthouses at the park gate and around Gqeberha, for an early start or an overnight on safari.
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Addo is the Big Five finish to the Garden Route. See the rest of what the route holds.
