Addo Elephant National Park — Attraction in Sundays River Valley Local Municipality

OK nature,chalets and waterhole but avoid the park reception and game drives. Worst experience of all parks visited(done 80 game drives i 7 countries). First the reception cant answer and just dont care on my questions resulting in me missing a game drive. next day the guide come starting complaining it is early, do not introduce himself and how he want us to interact with him(like i heard his colleague do on the car next to us). When i then tried to get his attention i said stop, stop STOP, he then got mad at me for yelling at him. next sighting I again tired to say stop with his name no response so I yelled HEY STOP. He pushed the car past the sighting scaring of the birds and stopped and did stand up and started to scream at me that I should not treat him like that. I said I was sorry but i did not get his attention and did not want to miss the sighting. He was really upset. At then end of the drive i give me aggressive look . This is the only time I have been screamed at and aggressively fronted by a driver. I did miss my sightings and I left the park with bad feeling since he really looked that he was about to hit me. Need I say that i was also accompanied with my young children, and they were also upset. Based on his reaction he should now work with customer facing activities. Then they tired to not hand back binocolurs that the cleaning team had found. If i did not have meet the clearer they never would have given it back to me. visited...

We recently spent two nights in a Safari Tent at the park.

The park itself is fantastic, but there are areas that require attention. Due to recent rains and reduced maintenance, the non-tarred roads have deteriorated and need improvement for a smoother experience for vehicles not designed for off-road conditions. This aspect was better managed in the past.

The facilities at the main camp are adequate but could benefit from upgrades, especially considering the current rates. The bed in our tent was exceptionally comfortable and clean. However, the rest of the tent showed signs of mildew, and the furniture lacked functionality and creative design. The refrigerator, although loud, functioned well, and the air conditioning unit seemed fine (though we didn't need to use it). The views from the tent were spectacular.

Overall, there's a concerning sense that insufficient investment is being made in the facilities, upkeep, and maintenance. Attention to detail seems lacking, as evidenced by unattended issues like burnt-out light bulbs, broken locks on some toilet doors, and a section of the fence in the hide area becoming hazardously inclined.

The absence of proactive local operations management is noticeable, despite the presence of sufficient staff. This situation appears to reinforce the perception of inadequate reinvestment in the park's overall upkeep and...

We stayed 5 nights in Addo Main Camp and thoroughly enjoyed watching the elephants interact with each other and also the human visitors. The elephants are very calm among humans - but at all like the Kruger National Park elephants. We saw jackal, meerkat, buffalo, kudu, warthogs, zebra, fish eagle, pale chanting goshawks, red hartebeest. We stayed in chalet number 20 which had beautiful unobstructed views of the landscape and we thoroughly enjoyed watching the elephants and zebra stroll past. We could hear the jackals and hyenas at night. We booked an early morning game drive as well as a night drive. Both are 2 hour game drives. There is a Cattle Baron restaurant at Main Camp - we enjoyed the food. Laundry facilities behind the reception area - but tokens from reception. The downside was that load shedding was a problem as the chalets were not equipped with any decent battery lamps- so make sure to take your own lamps and head torches. . Sanparks chalets are not very well equipped for self catering. There is a microwave but hardly any microwavable cookware. Serving dishes are also non existent. The units are serviced daily- they do wash the dishes and the braai facility gets cleaned everyday. Information about the Reserve was sorely lacking (ie, information about laundry ) . Definitely worth a visit especially if you...