Addo Elephant National Park

Size: Approximately 1,642 square kilometres.

Location: Along the Garden Route.

Best Time: Year round, with June through September best.

Known For: Elephants.

To Do: Game drives, walking safaris, horse riding, watersports, and birdwatching.

Home to more than 550 elephants, Addo Elephant National Park is the perfect place to see these gentle giants in their natural habitat. The park’s red earth lends its resident elephants a distinctive orange-red tinge, and there are few places on earth better for seeing elephants in large numbers.

The park is also home to the other four members of the Big Five, although all of them are in smaller numbers than can be found in other parks.

Other animal highlights include the greater kudu, red hartebeest, eland, and the dimunitive dung beetle.

The park’s attached marine sanctuary is an excellent place to go on a marine safari, with whale watching tours also offering the chance to spot the great white shark, African penguin, and dolphins.