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Hi everyone,

I'm planning a trip for my mother and I to Addo for the first week of May and I wanted to ask what anyone planning a safari wants to know: where are the best spots to go to? We will have our own car (probably a 4x4) and are staying at Matyholweni.
I know a lot of what you experience is up to luck but I wanted to know if there are any sites to put at the top of my list---I've done some searching through the forum and have noted that Spekboom hide, Hapoor, and Guarrie dams are great. Any others?

Thanks in advance: Either way, this will be a trip to remember!

Hi Tex,

Make your way down to the southern area early (just before you go up the steep hill and cross the main road to the very southern half), if you are at main rest camp. We saw black rhino, lion and caracal at the same area on different days.
Be at the hide around dust to see the black rhino and also check out the left of the hide at night, we saw bushpig, buffalo..close and someone else saw porcupine.

have a great trip
john

Thanks John! I'll be sure to have a look. Take care

Tessa

Hi Tex...
We found the Gorah loop to be very successful...from ellies, to hyena, and buffs...the Domkrag loop is also a great fave (caracal, meerkats, ellies)...those are in the north and it is worth a trip up...the north is more open than the south...so you have better luck seeing things. The south is very scenic, but if it isn't on the road, it is tough to see.
If you would like check out my thread 'KTF hooked most anticipated adventure'...we have been in SA for nearly a year...and we've seen some great sights. I am presently writing about our trip to Addo from this past Feb. The Addo trip began on page 36!
Have fun planning and I wish you lots of good sightings...you will have a great trip no matter what..it is a pretty place.
All the best...KTF

You can drive th whole of the 'old' section in a morning Tex, but about 10h00 get to Hapoor waterhole. The eles come in their hundreds.

Carol's rest in the afternoons can also be productive.

Hi Tex! We were in Addo end of March - and really enjoyed it! The game really move around quite a bit and you can get good sightings ANYWHERE in the park. Luckily the park is not all that big - and therefor it is easy to see most of it - even in short period. I also loved the Gorah Loop and Carrols Rest - lots of general game in the open area. Everytime we went there we would see Eland, Red Hartebeest, Zebra and Buffalo! During our time there Addo was very wet - pools of water everywhere in the bush, so the waterholes were not as productive as they are normally. You can go check my TR (still in progress) - "Ellies and Otters - Addo and SRM" - if you want to see where we saw what.

Oh yes - and the sightings boards also helped a lot - so keep your eye on them once you are there!

Hello Tex

You have received a lot of good advice already.

I was there last week, and Hapoor had NOT ONE ELEPHANT in 3 days (we were there quite often), but herds of elephants, zebra, eland and kudu were plentiful on the Gorah loop plains -- just drive up Zuurkop and spy the land out from the viewpoint, then go and enjoy VERY close interaction with big herds of elephants. It seems as if they are enjoying digging out the fresh new grass...

I suspect the big herds of ellies around Hapoor have moved south -- my sons saw a herd of 70 in the Matyholweni area last month!
They also saw a caracal catching a dove in the road on Sunday (very close to Marion Baree). The pride of three young lions were around Marion Baree, Hapoor (saw remains of a fresh kill there) and Mbalala loop nearly every day. A lioness with cubs is frequently seen on the Matyholweni loops (lately on the biggest northwestern loop).

I am sure by May things will have changed once again! Ask at the gate and check the sightings board for the latest variations on this lovely theme, and enjoy!

God bless,

Friedrich von Hörsten

hello tex

good luck and god bless you

hello tex

good luck and god bless you

I will be in Addo on Thursday for 3 days!! It will be my first visit to the park? Does it work the same as Kruger, wild viewing wise? Is all the camps connected via road? and what are the gate times? Will follow all the leads of places to go and see..

It works pretty much the same as Kruger. There are tar and dirt roads, there are look out points where you can get out of the vehicle, there is a hide and a sightings board in front of reception.
There is a well stocked shop and a restaurant that sells wicked cheesecake & coffee plus main meals etc.

Have fun!

Oh yes, I forgot. There is a waterhole, with a viewing deck and a 'hide' along side the main rest camp, where black rhino often come to drink after dark.

Just back from Addo.Gorah Loop is were all the action is.Did not have much luck on the other roads.

Tiko