Safari in the Eastern Cape

Route: Port Elizabeth - Safari lodge - Addo

This Safari on the Eastern Cape self drive is great for game drives on the beautiful coast of the Cape. Your trip begins in Port Elizabeth, where you'll board a riverboat to your hidden private game reserve. During your stay, a professional bush ranger will take you on exciting game drives across sloping hills, through dense forests and across wide African plains in search of the legendary Big Five. Keep your camera close at hand - you never know what you'll see around the next bend and you'll want plenty of memories of your South Africa holiday. Back at the lodge, your personal cook will rustle up delicious meals, snacks and drinks (included in the price). At the end of the day, the glow of hundreds of oil lanterns will lead you back to your luxurious, cosy safari tent. After this, you'll put your new tracking techniques to the test on a self drive safari in Addo Elephant National Park. There's nothing like watching a herd of elephants pass by just a few feet in front of your car.

If you would like to see where you could go after your Safari along the Eastern Cape, take a look at our South Africa travel tours, or check out our suggested itineraries where you can travel South Africa by road.

Duration	5 days - 4 nights	Accommodation	Spend the night like Livingstone once did in a luxurious safari tent and in a charming guest house (see pictures below). Accommodation category 3-4.
Price	Please see our Contact Us page for further details	Includes	Accommodation for 2 nights in a double occupancy room - board and breakfast, 2 nights in a luxurious safari tent - full board including drinks, 4 game activities, boat transfers, trail information
Transport	Rental car	Excludes	Car rental, park entrance fees

Day 1: Arrival in Port Elizabeth

Our Eastern Cape safari starts in Port Elizabeth, South Africa's fifth largest city, located on the shores of Algoa Bay. PE (as Port Elizabeth is known as among locals) is a breezy, hospitable city. While you're here, don't miss out on Bayworld; South Africa's largest museum. Bayworld is not only home to the Port Elizabeth Museum, it also has a colourful aquarium and an intriguing snake park. PE also has several tropical beaches nearby for you to choose from where you can either sit back and relax or get your adrenaline pumping with water sports. You'll spend the night in a charming guest house with swimming pool within walking distance from the beach, restaurants and shops.

Safari Eastern Cape- Take a break at the beach

Day 2: Port Elizabeth - Safari Lodge

Travel time: approximately 3 hours - total distance about 190km

After breakfast you'll continue your Eastern Cape safari to Kenton-on-Sea, a sleepy town at the mouth of the Kariega River, where you'll leave your car at a guarded parking lot. Make sure that you arrive on time, because the boat to your private game reserve sets sail at noon. The 45-minute river voyage is a lovely introduction to the wildlife experience ahead. You may see a cormorant swooping down to scoop up a tasty fish, a kudu grazing with her newborn or a friendly fisherman waving as you pass by. After lunch, the rest of the afternoon is yours. This is the perfect time to read a good book on the veranda or if you're in need of a bit more action and adventure, hop into a canoe and paddle downstream.

At afternoon's end our ranger will escort you deeper into the massive reserve in an open 4WD. Crossing through the reserve, you'll see some of the diversity of this area's landscape. You'll see herds of zebras grazing on hillside and large groups of antelopes gathering on the open plain. A solitary rhino may stand around soaking up the last of the sunrays as a family of giraffes bows their long necks to quench their thirst at a water pool, perfect if you are after a South Africa holiday full of wildlife. Today's game drive ends in a typical Africa way; with a 'sundowner' (a drink) in hand you'll watch the real thing slowly sink below the wide opens plains stretching out before you. Back at camp you'll sit down to a tasty dinner at the boma (bbq). Beneath a starry African sky, you'll find your way across oil lamp-lit paths to your comfortable safari tent where the sounds of nature will lull you to sleep.

Day 3: Safari Lodge

Day three of your Eastern Cape safari begins with a light breakfast, after which you'll head off on a morning safari with the ranger. As the world slowly awakens all around you, you'll get to see Africa at its best. Experience the intense scents and colours of the African dawn. You'll stop off for a cup of tea of coffee at the watering hole, where baby giraffe will likely be just as surprised to see you as you are to see him. You are bound to have worked up a healthy appetite, so luckily an elaborate breakfast will be waiting for you when you get back from safari. The rest of the day is yours to spend in leisure... relax, unwind and let the experiences of your South Africa trip so far sink in. There's one more safari planned for late afternoon, but otherwise you have the rest of the day to yourself. No need to be bored though. You can go on an extra game walk, make reservations for a massage on your veranda, cast out a fishing line from the pier or jump into the river for a swim (don't worry, crocs and hippos won't bother you here).

Day 4: Safari Lodge - Addo

Travel time: approximately 2.5 hours - total distance about 190km

Today you'll say goodbye to the camp and its friendly staff... but not until you've had the pleasure of going on one more morning safari. After breakfast you'll board a boat for a downstream sailing trip to where the Kariega meets the Indian Ocean. From here you'll drive in the comfort of your own rental car along the Eastern Cape to the town of Addo. You'll spend the night nearby in a lovely Cape Dutch-style villa with an elaborate garden. If you arrive early, you'll have enough time to head into the Addo Elephant National Park on the same day as your arrival. This remarkable park is nestled in lush green valleys and is a a favourite for many people on their South Africa holiday. The park has reasonably decent sandy roads, fine for driving through the park and spotting wild animals from within your own rental car. Keep your camera handy, because there'll undoubtedly be opportunity for some excellent pictures here. If you feel up to it you can join an organised game drive in the evening, for instance in the Schotia Game Reserve.

Day 5: Departure from Addo - End of trip

Depending on the distance you need to cover today on your Eastern Cape safari, you may try to spot a few more wild animals in Addo after breakfast. Did you know that the park was named after the 11 elephants that lived here in 1931? In an effort to save these gentle giants from extinction, the area was declared a national park. The preservation efforts have been a huge success and today there are about 450 elephants in the park. Besides elephants, you'll also have a chance at spotting buffalos, lions, black rhinos and several types of antelopes. There are plans to expand the park significantly and to add the Marine Reserve which lies next to it to the park as well. This would make it possible to see not only the Big 5, but the Big 7 in Addo National Park. The two additional animals are the great white shark and the southern right whale.

This Safari the Eastern Cape module ends when you wake up this morning. If you have a little more time to spare, ask our travel specialist to book an extra night for you in Addo to extend your South Africa holiday. Our Garden Route Africa module would be the perfect next element to your South Africa trip. If your holiday time is over, you can catch a flight back to the UK from Port Elizabeth.

Safari Eastern Cape - Addo Elephant National Park

Addo tip:

If you would like to really pamper yourself a bit on your South Africa holiday, we also offer a luxurious safari tent with your own personal jacuzzi on your veranda, a fireplace and an enchanting view. You'll spend the night in the hills between Addo Elephant National Park and Port Elizabeth. Not only will you be treated to the hospitality of the staff, delicious meals and delightful South African wine (all meals and drinks are included), you'll also go on 2 game activities... one of which on the back of an African elephant! You'll not only ride an Elephant, you'll also get a chance to feed these friendly grey giants. At the end of the day you'll even 'tuck them in' and put them to bed, but not before you give them a nice bath to wash off all the dust they collected during the day.