We really enjoyed these recent articles about our neighbour, Addo Elephant National Park, in the African Geographic and Country Life magazines. Our guests love that the main entrance to this Big Seven national park is only 15 km drive from Kudu Ridge Game Lodge.

elephant orange-elephant-backpackers

Addo Elephant National Park interesting facts:

  1. Most Diverse Game Park. Addo Elephant National Park is said to be the most diverse game park on Earth. The area includes five biomes – Karoo, grassland, fynbos, thicket and forest.
  2. Not Just the Big Five – the Big Seven. Addo (as us locals call it!) is home to the Big Seven. This includes the Big Five of elephant, lion, buffalo, leopard, rhino plus great white sharks and southern right whales.
  3. South African Conservation Success. Addo is the third largest national park in South Africa and one of our country’s top conservation success stories. From its start in 1931 with only 11 elephants, the park is now home to over 600 of these mammals plus a growing and varied collection of wildlife – from endangered rhino to rare flightless dung beetles.
  4. Mega Park. Starting from just 4,000 hectares the park now protects 186,000 hectares two islands. A further huge (200,000 ha) marine protected area is in the planning.
  5. Largest Breeding Colony of African Penguins. Addo Elephant National Park’s St Croix Island protects the world’s largest breeding ground of the endangered African Penguins.
  6. Massive Reintroduction of Historical Species. Many species that historically lived in the have been successfully reintroduced to the park including lion, hyena, cheetah and mountain zebra.
  7. Unique Vegetation and Longest Dunes in Southern Hemisphere. The park is also unique in that it protects an immense array of vegetation, which stretches from the semi-arid Karoo to rugged mountains, through river valleys and all the way down to a wild coastline with the longest dunes in the southern hemisphere.

Canon Trail, image Shaen Adey 0245 See-the-penguins-in-PE

Kudu Ridge Game Lodge is conveniently located only 30 minutes drive from Port Elizabeth and is a great base to explore the Addo region.

Why stay at Kudu Ridge Game Lodge when visiting Addo Elephant National Park?

What out guests say: “We stayed at Kudu Ridge several times this year while working near Addo. It was a truly exceptional experience every time and we are definitely coming back privately to use Kudu Ridge as a base to explore Addo from, which is only a short drive away. Jenny, Brian and Andrew really made us feel as part of the family. We loved the evening family dinners around the massive fire, and the many chats at their cosy bar. They really went out of their way to accommodate our individual needs, from cooking without garlic as I am allergic, to getting up before sunrise to open up for us when we had to leave early. We felt very well looked after and look forward to some sundowners from their great deck after a long day of game viewing in the future.” Read more guest reviews on Tripadvisor.

Read more about the history of the Addo region.

Email us on info@kuduridge.co.za with any enquiries or book online.