South Africa · Southern Africa
The Eastern Cape.
The Eastern Cape's private reserves are malaria-free and sit within reach of the Garden Route, which is why they so often close a family itinerary.
Photo Arthur Hickinbotham / Unsplash
Addo Elephant National Park is the region's anchor and one of the few places where elephant are the certainty rather than the hope. The private reserves around it — Shamwari, Kwandwe and others — offer guided Big Five viewing without the malaria-prophylaxis question that shapes so much family planning.
Where can you see the Big Five without malaria in South Africa?
The Eastern Cape is the main answer. Addo Elephant National Park and the private reserves around it hold the Big Five and lie in a malaria-free area, so no anti-malarial medication is needed. That is why they are a common choice for families with young children and for travellers who cannot take prophylaxis.
How do you get to the Eastern Cape's game reserves?
Fly to Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport in Gqeberha, formerly Port Elizabeth, which has flights from Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. Addo is under an hour's drive from the airport, and most private reserves are within about two hours. The Eastern Cape is also the natural end of a Garden Route drive from Cape Town.
What is special about Addo Elephant National Park?
It was created in 1931 to protect the last eleven elephants in the area, and now holds several hundred. It is one of the few parks where the Big Five can be seen alongside southern right whales and great white sharks in its marine section. It also protects the flightless dung beetle, which is found in very few places.
How does an Eastern Cape safari compare with the Greater Kruger?
The Greater Kruger is larger, older wilderness with denser game. Most Eastern Cape private reserves were restored from farmland, are fenced, and are smaller. In return they are malaria-free, a short flight from Cape Town, and many take young children on game drives.
How long should you spend on an Eastern Cape safari?
Two or three nights in a private reserve is usual, often after a few days on the Garden Route or in Cape Town.
What is there to see in the Eastern Cape?
What does the Eastern Cape pair well with?
- The Garden RouteThe Garden Route runs roughly from Mossel Bay to Storms River along the southern coast, and is the country's classic self-drive stretch.
- Cape Town and the Cape PeninsulaCape Town is the city most itineraries are anchored to, and the Peninsula gives it a coastline, a mountain and a wine region within an hour of the centre.
- Greater Kruger and the LowveldThe Greater Kruger is South Africa's principal safari region: the national park itself plus a belt of private reserves sharing unfenced boundaries with it.
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Elsewhere in South Africa
- The Cape WinelandsStellenbosch, Franschhoek and Paarl form the classic winelands triangle, about an hour inland from Cape Town.
- KwaZulu-Natal and ZululandKwaZulu-Natal combines a warm coastline, the Drakensberg mountains and Big Five reserves that are malaria-free or low-risk.
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