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look forward to sharing the experience.

Addo was the first ever park I visited - way back in the 60's - when view points along the fence was all they had no drives in the park....

ADDO MAIN CAMP


I thought that it would be appropriate to start this off with some pics of the Main Camp and entrance to the park

Main entrance off the R342




Main gates




Main Reception




Shops and Restaurant




Car Parks

Hi Ronnie!

What a wonderful idea to start this thread!
Thanks for sharing your regular visits with us
and for any info about Addo to come.

Looking forward to more!

Looking forward to this thread and your fotos, Ronnie.

I have been to the park once before and am looking forward to my next visit in August 2011.

Great thing that you called this an interactive thread, Ronnie!
This way I get to post some pics from my stay in Addo which was at a time when I haven't been a forumite yet - 2007.

Dawn and dusk (well, actually night) from the camp:

Welcome Lionspoon

I hope that you had a great stay in South Africa and especially Addo Park
and that you will be back again

My first memories of Addo Park go back to when there were a few more than 20 Elephants in the park.
This number has now grown to over 550 elephants

The Ellies were kept in the Elephant enclosure. Oranges were put out for them at the main camp
where the waterhole and webcam are now situated. The oranges were put out there to attract the
ellies and they would only come out under the cover of darkness and a ranger would shine a handheld
battery operated motorcar headlight to light up the area, not directly at the ellies, and you would see
these "shadows" moving around.

I must admit as a kid I found this "quite scary" because I had heard firsthand accounts of the dangers of
these elephants when they were still roaming free causing damaged to property and harm to people and
were hunted in the Addo area.

These elephants regarded man as their number one enemy, and it is with absolute amazement today
that when I go to the park and see how accustomed these ellies have become to our vehicles that
they will walk right past your vehicle going about their business.

WE MUST NEVER FORGET THAT THESE ARE STILL WILD ANIMALS AND THAT WE ARE
INTRUDERS, SO TREAT THEM WITH RESPECT AND BE CAREFUL

Your comment on the aggressive ellie - I think that is why I have such a healthy respect for ellies today.
The one visit to Addo - way back in the dark ages - Hapoor was close to the fence - I have never again met such an agressive, angry elephant so full of hate for the human race
What amazes me is that - today - the Addo elephant are so much more placid than the Kruger elephant. Perhaps it's got something to do with the difference in numbers of human visitors?

MATYHOLWENI ENTRANCE GATE

The Matyholweni Entrance Gate is situated in the southern section of the park

This gate is 45 km from Port Elizabeth on the N2 and it should take you 40 minutes to travel

You turn off at Colchester which is situated on the Sundays River


The Matyholweni Entrance Gate





The Reception Office

Can you spot the Vervet Monkey?




This is the permit control gate and entrance to the park. From here one can travel
to the rest of the park and the distance to the Main Camp from here is 37 km
The route takes you past a number of waterholes and Jack's Picnic Site
There are sections of this road that are tarred while the remainder is gravel (dirt)
and is very well maintained




Did you spot the monkey?
If not, have a look, it's sitting on the very top of the right hand gable of The Reception Office

We must not forget that Hapoor was a young mature bull at the time when he and the other elephants were eventually put into the safety of the elephant enclosure so he must have witnessed and survived some horrific acts by humans against him and his fellow elephants. The saying goes that "to have a memory like an elephant" means that one never forgets so Hapoor would have remembered all these acts. Legend also has it that the large piece that was missing from his ear was the result of a bullet from a hunters rifle hence his name Hapoor the meaning of this in Afrikaans means " piece missing from his ear"

In my opinion one of the contributing factors why the Addo elephants have become so placid and docile is the fact that the area in which they are enclosed is not that large, Addo has the highest density of elephant population in Africa. Taking into account the large number of visitors to the park the ratio of elephant to human contact is very high and then there is no aggression in any of this contact. This is not so in some of the larger parks where the elephants can leave the protection of their parks and come into contact with humans outside of the parks and encounter human aggression.

Now this is a really fantastic topic I just love reading about your experiences old and new

Thanks so much for sharing - You obviously LOVE Addo very much, it seems to be part of you!

More please

Your pictures are great, no matter the camera

Before entering the Park lets have a look at some of the Rules.




Maximum speed is 40Km per hour



You are NOT ALLOWED TO LEAVE YOUR VEHICLE
except at Lookout Points









Please do not ride over the Dung Beetles




NO ENTRY ALLOWED on service roads



This is a section of tarred road





This is a section of gravel road with some elephant dung.
When you see fresh dung in the road you know that you
can expect to find elephant nearby

Great post again, Ronnie!

And the sign for the dung beetle crossing still makes me giggle, as it did when I first saw it.

First entry into Elephant Enclosure

This photo is one of the fist I have of an elephant taken from within the elephant enclosure.
I am not sure on the date, 1970's

At first vehicles were only allowed to enter the elephant enclosure at a gate close to where the
present day Hapoor Dam is situated today. This was before the enclosure was enlarged.
One would have to travel around the outside perimeter of the enclosure and enter at Hapoor
as the road inside the enclosure was a one-way with the exit close to the main camp.