Addo Elephant National Park is the third biggest National Park in size, after the Kruger National Park and the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. This malaria-free park is located close to Port Elizabeth in South Africa.
Recently the Addo Elephant Park has laid claim to the only wildlife reserve or national park in the world to conserve and protect the “Big-7”, which consists of the elephant, rhino, lion, buffalo, leopard, southern right whale and the great white shark.
The Addo Elephant Park is divided and split up into different sections, all together giving it the name of the “Greater Addo”. Some of these sections include,
- Darlington Section in the northwest includes Darlington Lake, which is great for fishing and includes few 4×4 trails.
- Kabouga Section mostly offers 4×4 trails, and also some canoeing on the Sundays river at Kabouga Cottage and Mvubu Lodge.
- Zuurberg Mountain Section located in the centre of Addo Elephant Park, with its abundance of birdlife is great for hiking.
- Nyati Section is home to the luxurious River Bend Lodge and the park also runs their horse trails in this section.
- The Main Game and Colchester Section is the part of the park to which most people refer to as the Addo Elephant National Park. Mostly dirt roads, this section of the reserve can be explored from your own car. The Sundays river gives visitors the opportunity to fish, paddle or canoe trips. Boat trips are possible and can be arranged.
- Woody Cape Section which includes stunning scenery of the Cape coastline, dune fields and forests, great for hiking.
- The Marine Section which forms part of the “Greater Addo” is a marine protected area which includes St Croix and Bird Islands, and are rarely accessible to the public.