Addo Elephant Self-Guided Game Drive
Addo is a game drive you can do at your own pace. This two-day route starts around Main Camp, then works south through waterhole country and spekboom thicket to Matyholweni.
Highlights include:
- Watching the floodlit waterhole from Main Camp’s underground hide
- Leaving the car at the designated viewpoint above Domkrag Dam
- Looking for elephants below Zuurkop Lookout Point
- Stopping for a picnic or braai at fenced Jack’s Picnic Site
- Walking into the hide at Spekboom Hide and Tented Camp
- Waiting beside Marion Baree Waterhole for elephants and buffalo
- Taking in the southern section from Ndlovu Lookout
- Staying at Camp Matyholweni near the Colchester gate
South Africa road trip from Addo Main Camp to Camp Matyholweni (52 km, about 2 hours driving). Plan this trip with Sideroads Africa.
Stops along the way
Day 1
- Addo Elephant Main Camp: SANParks chalets at the north of Addo Elephant National Park — restaurant, shop and the floodlit underground hide.
- Domkrag Dam: Lookout over the dam east of Addo Main Camp — a designated stop where you may leave the car.
- Zuurkop Lookout Point: Gorah Loop viewpoint over a watering hole in northern Addo — elephants often drink below the ridge.
- Jack's Picnic Site: Fenced picnic and braai site on the southern access road — toilets and a legal place to get out of the car.
- Spekboom Hide and Tented Camp: Walk-in hide on the southern access road plus unfenced Spekboom tents — a quiet overnight in the thicket.
Day 2
- Marion Baree Waterhole: Southern-access waterhole between Jack’s Picnic Site and the Colchester section — a sit for elephant and buffalo.
- Southern Addo Elephant Park Gate: Matyholweni / Colchester gate — the south entrance into Addo’s game-drive section.
- Ndlovu Lookout: Southern Addo viewpoint a few minutes from Matyholweni — a designated stop to leave the vehicle.
- Camp Matyholweni: SANParks rest camp at the south of Addo — chalets and camping a few minutes from the Colchester gate.