Safaris in SA are advertised around the 'Big 5' - elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo and rhinoceros - so any reserve wants to be able to claim all 5. Addo stretches a bit - it has 1 leopard, and that apparently hasn't been seen for 2 years (though the guide that told us this emphasised that they know he's still alive from his tracks - obviously briefed on false advertising lawsuits) and 10 lions.* 450 elephants though, so you'd be unlucky not to see one.
* They introduced more lions and hyenas a few years ago to try to control the kudu population - kudu are large deer with beautiful curly antlers that can jump 3m up, higher than the fence, and there has been a lot of kudu immigration. Unfortunately the predators seem to have preferred the taste of some of the other animals, cutting down their numbers without denting the kudu, so a few lions were shipped out again.
We spent a little while on our first drive trying to photograph a kudu from maximum zoom range. In retrospect we should just have waited for one of the dozens we'd see up close.
The park is impressive with various different 'biomes', a lot of human-height vegetation and some big grassy plains plus a few watering holes. Further afield there are loads of cacti and patches of dense undergrowth. You can drive at will on a network of paved and unpaved roads, and tours can take you down other paths in specialist vehicles. So what you see is pretty much luck - what animals are near the road when you pass - but we had a great time driving around spotting animals and almost everything we saw, we had a close encounter with.
On our first 2-hour drive, we managed to see none of the big 5, but notched up some beautiful kudu, plus large tortoises, warthogs and ostriches amongst others. Then we took a guided night tour - excellent guide in a big jeep with a big spotlight - and immediately hit gold with a shy elephant and, at a distance, almost all the lions in the park. Things got a bit quieter after that but a tongue-twisting black-backed jackal wandered over to say hello, and we spotted a few smaller nocturnal creatures.
Up not-too-bright but very early the next morning for a sunrise tour and a major highlight - found the lions again and this time they were about 15m away.
"How fast are lions over 15 metres, and why haven't we got any windows?"
There were 7 lions in 2 groups a few metres apart and the younger lions from one clearly fancied a bit of a ruck with the other group - cue a lot of posturing, ground-pawing and urinating until the older lions told them to stop showing off. Amazing scenes.
After that we found a few side-of-the-road elephants and a buffalo from a long distance - 3 of the Big 5 in a 2 hour trip.
Eventually, under our own steam, we found a buffalo up close ("Lilly, stop the car." "Why?" "Because there's a buffalo 2 metres away."), and we came across a group of meerkats - we thought we'd scared them away as they legged it towards their burrow, and then we saw the jackal chasing them. The meerkats made it - just. We drove past again half an hour later and a few meerkats were peeking out, and the jackal was staring at them from 20m away wondering if he'd get another chance.
Our last morning summed up the element of chance perfectly - for 20 minutes we saw literally no living creature larger than the flightless dung beetle unique to Addo (which has right of way on all roads)*...
...then a kudu, and then suddenly 5 elephants - including 2 babies** - walking down the road towards and then past us. Fantastic scenes.
* We did however see some impressive - and in one case only half-eaten - carcasses.
** Note to my dad - baby elephants do not, it transpires, clatter around making lots of noise, so that was a poor analogy.
So we really enjoyed Addo. If you're determined that you absolutely must see certain animals, or you want to obsessively complete your checklist (they do give you pictures of each animal with boxes to tick) you may get the odd disappointment, but if you're happy to just enjoy everything you come across you'll do well. The accommodation is good - we had quite a charming little cottage with a balcony surrounded by greenery and frequently visited by birds that looked like they might stop to help with the housework. You can self-cater (the on-site shop is tiny, but at least not a rip-off), and the tours are good value.
Just one tip - the directions generally suggest that if coming from the south, you drive up outside the park and enter by the main camp. That road is dull and not particularly quick. Far better to enter at the south end (the Matyholweni Gate) and drive up through the park - slightly slower, but you will actually be on safari while you do it. We realised this in time to leave that way.
(Oh, if anyone was on tenterhooks at the end of my last post - got my bag back the following day after some extremely unimpressive customer service from BA in SA, who apparently cannot ring an overseas mobile to confirm whether a bag has arrived - presumably they usually only lose domestic customers' luggage.)
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