Colossal, immense or ginormous are appropriate adjectives to describe an elephant. Weighing up to 7 000 kilograms and measuring four metres at its front shoulder, an African bull elephant can eat 300 kilograms of plant matter and drink around 200 litres of water every day. Some of the largest tusks – their upper incisor teeth – weigh more than 75 kilograms each, which is equivalent to that of an average man. Elephants are very, very big.
But these statistics and adjectives don’t fully prepare you for a close encounter with Earth’s largest land animal. Wild elephants command attention and respect like no other creature and, in Addo Elephant National Park, just 40 kilometres northeast of Port Elizabeth, there’s every chance of getting near to them.
My first meeting with Addo’s elephants was more like a roadblock. I turned a corner in my car, and a breeding herd of 20-odd individuals was walking determinedly up the road towards me. Hemmed in on either side by the bush and from the back by another vehicle, I couldn’t go anywhere. I leaned out of my window to take a few photos and, as they came closer, I had no choice but to surrender meekly to their indisputable authority, pulling my camera back in. They passed within centimetres, the matriarch giving me a sideways glance as if to say ‘driver’s licence, please,’ before moving on.
The next day, I was with guide Martin Bronkhorst from Gorah Elephant Camp, a beautiful private lodge in the east of the park where I’d been staying. A lone bull was pulling up grass, still damp from recent rains. Martin slowed the Landy and stopped a few metres away. The bull stopped feeding and ambled over to us, standing alongside the vehicle. An elephantine eclipse blocked out the sun. His tusk almost scraped the bonnet. ‘He seems to be enjoying our company,’ Martin whispered. ‘I hope he is,’ I replied softly.
After a few minutes of not doing anything in particular, the bull obviously decided he needed to be somewhere else. He waved his trunk at us before sauntering off down the road as if on his way to another appointment.
‘Incredible, hey?’ Martin smiled. We agreed that neither of us had felt unduly threatened during our silent meeting with Mr Elephant. He had treated us with consideration and respect.
‘The Addo elephants are very friendly,’ he explained. ‘And that’s something of a miracle, considering everything they’ve been through.’
Forgive and forget
If the saying that an elephant never forgets is true, then the elephants of Addo must be very forgiving. Several million African elephants roamed the continent during the early 1700s and the South African population was an estimated 100 000, many of which would have ranged across the south-eastern Cape where Addo lies today.
The slaughter began when the Europeans arrived 400 years ago. The last elephant in Cape Town was shot in 1652 and hunters moved steadily up the east coast. By 1918, there were no more than 140 elephants near Addo, down from several thousand just a century before. Here the animals hid away in the dense spekboom, a rubbery, near-impenetrable succulent bush that grows, coincidentally, to the height of an elephant.
Surrounded by citrus farmers, the elephants had nowhere to go and the orange orchards proved too juicy for them to ignore. At night they’d emerge from the thickets and raid the crops. Soon farmers were petitioning government to kill all the elephants and a hunter, Major PJ Pretorius, was employed by the Administrator of the Cape Colony. Between 1919 and 1920, he shot about 114 elephants with his .475 Jeffries double-barrelled rifle and captured two calves to be sold to Boswell’s Circus. On one occasion, he maimed an elephant with a shot through its spinal column, then climbed onto its back and shot it through the head. In another hunt, he shot 22 elephants in just a few minutes. At the end of the macabre year, just 16 elephants remained.
The public finally woke up to the tragedy, but it took another decade before authorities acknowledged the need to save the last of the Cape’s elephants. Addo Elephant National Park was proclaimed in 1931 and the few remaining elephants had to be chased into its boundaries from surrounding areas with firecrackers, shotguns and bonfires. However, the park wasn’t fenced and the elephants wandered back into the surrounding orchards, where they came into conflict with farmers, further reducing their numbers to 11.
Another 23 years passed before warden Graham Armstrong developed a unique fencing system of railway sleepers and Otis lift cables unbreakable by elephants. In 1954, about 20 square kilometres of land was fenced and finally, after four centuries of hunting, the remaining elephants were safe from people and their guns. Still, for several decades, the elephants feared or hated anything that looked or smelt like a human. During the day, they would hide away in the spekboom or chase people and overturn cars when they could. They clearly hadn’t forgotten the years of hunting and persecution.
The big and the small
Today, however, it seems as if the elephants have forgiven us. More than 650 elephants roam the park, mingling peacefully beside the vehicles of about 140 000 tourists a year.
‘This is undoubtedly Addo’s most famous success story,’ park manager Norman Johnson explained. ‘It’s why the park was proclaimed, to save these elephants from local extinction, and even though they’re still wild animals, they’ve become very habituated to people and vehicles.
‘The elephants now are so successful they’re becoming a nice problem. At some stage we’ll need to look at controlling the population, but for now we won’t use culling as an option. We’ll either move elephants into new parts of the park, or we’ll look at using contraceptives in certain sectors of the elephant population.’
‘Addo was all about elephants at first, but today it’s about conserving the biomes and their animal and plant species,’ said Norman.
The park has grown considerably since proclamation and today the terrestrial part covers 1 800 square kilometres, with a long-term target of 2 600. It stretches roughly 150 kilometres end to end across diverse ecosystems; five of South Africa’s nine biomes are found in Addo, namely Nama Karoo, fynbos, Albany thicket, forest and Indian Ocean coastal belt.
Key conservation concerns include the endemic flightless dung beetle (Circellium bacchus, which is crucial for recycling nutrients from dung into the soil), black rhino and Cape buffalo, which barely survived the hunting of the 1800s and is one of the few disease- free populations in South Africa.
Then there’s the remarkable thicket biome, an endemic yet threatened type of vegetation in South Africa. The predominant plant is spekboom, which forms the basis of Addo’s highly productive ecosystem. ‘Spekboom is amazing,’ said conservation manager John Adendorff. ‘Besides its medicinal values and ability to sequester carbon from the atmosphere, it’s able to sustain high concentrations of animals, including elephants.’
The reason for Addo’s high elephant density – about 2,8 elephants per square kilometre – is simple: they love spekboom. It’s full of water, has a high protein and vitamin content and, unlike many savanna trees or bushes, it grows back readily after being browsed. Even just breaking off a stem and leaving it on the ground can result in the growth of a new plant. The more elephants eat spekboom, the better it grows.
It’s not just elephants that thrive on it. During the day, black rhino use it to hide away and 60 per cent of the Addo buffalo’s diet is made up of spekboom (elsewhere buffalo tend to graze grass elsewhere in Africa). Several antelope species, including a thriving kudu population, also browse on the plant.
All these herbivores make for happy predators and lion and spotted hyena are doing well after reintroductions into the park. From just six lions introduced from Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Addo’s population reached 22 before some were relocated to other reserves; and from eight individuals brought in from Kruger, its spotted hyena numbers have climbed to 20.
‘In the beginning, the lion’s speciality was buffalo. At one stage there were two males which killed buffalo almost exclusively; they could take out up to 12 buffalo in one month. And the hyenas are definitely not scavengers; they hunt kudu successfully,’ John said. ‘At some point, predators can seriously affect herbivore numbers so, like all protected areas, we have to keep a balance so gave away some lion.’
Lions now concentrate on species such as red hartebeest, kudu, eland and ostrich while buffalo have developed successful defensive strategies by forming larger herds and staying out of the thick bush.
Addo’s other sections
Most of the big wildlife is in the Main Section, where the spekboom thicket occurs and the park’s biggest rest camp lies. Located between the N2 national highway and the public R342 road in the north, this is where most visitors start their stay at Addo before exploring the other sections to the north or south.
Sections are separated by fences or public roads and John, who has worked here for 20 years, thinks some of the lesser-known areas are more beautiful than Addo’s main wildlife section. ‘The mountains of Zuurberg are my favourite. They’re one of the oldest wilderness areas in Africa, declared in 1896; it’s untouched and wild and the only way to explore is by hiking or on horseback.’
To the northwest, in the rain shadow of the mountains, is the arid Darlington Section, where black rhino munch on spiky euphorbia plants and Darlington Dam gives relief from the intense summer heat. From there, 4x4ers can tackle a day trail over the mountains into the adjacent Kabouga Section in the south. Some of the best views in the park are on offer here, while forested kloofs shelter remote, isolated populations of Knysna turaco and the Sundays River provides a home for the few hippos that Addo protects.
In the far south, the coastal Woody Cape Section’s lush temperate forest abuts the Alexandria dune field, the largest in the southern hemisphere. The beautiful two-day hiking trail in this section is a must-do.
There are plans to develop an extensive 120-square-kilometre marine conservation area adjacent to the coastal section and incorporating the protected offshore St Croix and Bird islands, which are home to critical populations of endemic African penguins and Cape Gannets.
‘That’s our biggest challenge at the moment,’ John admitted. ‘Both penguins and gannets are in a gloomy situation. There were 10 000 pairs of penguins 15 years ago on St Croix; today there are no more than 7 000 and that’s the largest breeding colony in the world.’
Declining fish stocks and global warming are seen as the main culprits, both of which are out of direct control of John and his team.
‘We do as much as we can. We have teams actively looking after the birds. Kelp gulls and seals are stopped from eating the eggs and chicks and if we see a penguin that is sick or injured, we’ll intervene and rehabilitate it. We have to because, unless things change drastically, African penguins could be extinct in 20 years.’
Symbol of hope
Despite this, John remains optimistic that conservation authorities will win the day. The creation of the proposed marine protected area will secure some of the fish stocks for penguins and provide sanctuary to a host of other marine species.
It would be a fitting finale to Addo’s growth from a small patch of spekboom created to save elephants, to a 2 000-square-kilometre conservation area protecting species as diverse as dung beetles and black rhino, cycads and yellowwood trees, great white sharks and southern-right whales.
I asked John whether elephants will be seen on the coast of Addo again, as they did 400 years ago. Today, they’re restricted from doing so by the N2 national highway.
‘It’s unlikely,’ John pondered, ‘but, you know, in the United States of America I have seen bridges built over highways to allow wildlife to cross. Maybe someone, some day will have the money and courage to do that here.’
Imagine that! A herd of elephant crossing over a bridge above the traffic of the N2, making their way down to a beach at the southern end of Africa to dip their toes in the salty water and commune with whales.
It remains just a dream, but for now the kings and queens of Addo seem more than happy.
Getting to Addo Elephant National Park
There are two main access points to Addo: the gate near the main rest camp and Matyholweni Gate in the south. The most accessible route from Port Elizabeth to the main gate is to drive east on the N2 before turning north onto the N10. Take the R342 west for 23 kilometres until you see the sign to Addo. To access Matyholweni Gate, take the N2 east from Port Elizabeth, then turn left at the sign to Addo just after crossing the Sundays River near Colchester.
Addo Elephant National Park gates and operating hours
The main entrance is open from 07h00 to 19h00 and Matyholweni Gate opens between 07h00 and 17h00. There is a daily fee of R40 an adult and R20 a child. Wild Card holders enter free.
What to do in Addo Elephant National Park
Guided game drives cost from R240 a person, a hop-on guide in your own vehicle costs R180 a vehicle and horse trails are from R168 a person. The Bedrogfontein 4×4 Trail in the Kabouga Section costs R380 a vehicle. The two-day Alexandria Hiking Trail is R230 a person.
Where to stay in Addo Elephant National Park
Addo Rest Camp is the largest camp and offers self-catering campsites (R190 a site), safari tents (R485 for two people), forest cabins (R640 for two people), chalets (R745 for two people), cottages (R1 045 for two), rondavels (R1 045 for two people) and guest houses (R2 985 for four people).
The much quieter and more remote Matyholweni Camp in the south offers 15 self-catering chalets. From R960 for two people.
For the more adventurous, the small, fenced Spekboom Tented Camp has five tents on decks with communal ablutions and cooking area. Costs R595 for two people.
Narina Bush Camp in the Zuurberg Section along the Wit River on the southern slopes of the mountains, is basic with four two-man tents. Costs R990 for the camp.
The stone, self-catering Kabouga Cottage can be accessed by 4×4 only and sleeps six people in two bedrooms. From R405 a night for the first two people.
Mvubu Campsite with six stands is also in this section and you need a high ground-clearance vehicle. From R100 a night for the first two people.
Darlington Dam Cottage sleeps six people and costs R405 for first two people.
For forest lovers, the rustic Langebos Hikers’ Huts (in the Woody Cape section in the far south) are superb; this is where the Alexandria Hiking Trail starts.
The luxurious five-star Gorah Elephant Camp is one of a few private lodges in Addo, and is probably the best for game viewing as it’s the only one within the main wildlife section. Unlike most of Addo which is covered in dense spekboom, Gorah is surrounded by open grasslands (a result of old farming practices) and so provides plenty of food for grazers such as zebra and red hartebeest, which in turn attract predators such as lion and hyena. Guests at the unfenced camp are often treated to sightings of lion and black rhino, which come in the evening to drink from a small natural pool at the edge of the manor house stoep. Eleven luxury safari tents with bathrooms are linked by wooden boardwalks to the restored manor house, where gourmet meals are served. From R3 995 a person a night, including all meals, teas, non-alcoholic beverages and activities. Tel 044-501-1111, email res@hunterhotels.com, www.hunterhotels.com.
Addo Elephant National Park contact details
Tel 012-428-9111, email reservations@sanparks.org, www.sanparks.org.
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Tags: Addo Elephant National Park, Addo Rest Camp, Alexandria Hiking Trail, Bedrogfontein 4×4 Trail, Darlington Dam Cottage, elephant conservation, elephants, Gorah Elephant Camp, Kabouga Cottage, Langebos Hikers’ Huts, Matyholweni Camp, Matyholweni Gate, Mvubu Campsite, Narina Bush Camp, Port Elizabeth, spekboom, Spekboom Tented Camp, Sundays River, Year in the Wild, Zuurberg mountains