Addo Elephant Park

On the second weekend after my accommodation, we took our first overnight trip. We went to Addo Elephant Park, which is just over an hour away. We left on Saturday at 1 p.m. and rented two cars at the airport with eight people. We found an inexpensive hostel 8km away from the entrance for the night. After checking in, we went straight to the park.

In Addo, you can drive through the park on your own, which is much cheaper than guided safari tours. For tourists, admission costs about 17 euros, for South African residents only four. We didn't realize that we fell into the last category thanks to our student visas until the second day, but then we were able to save money.

So on Saturday we drove through the park until sunset and you can already find some animals. Unfortunately, there are no rhinos and giraffes in this park, but there are a lot of elephants, as the name suggests. There are also lions, but you really need a lot of luck to find them on your own.

We spent the night in a very, very cold bedroom. We girls were all bundled up, with several layers of sweaters, wool socks, and scarves, while the guys slept in just their boxers. The next day we woke up at five in the morning because someone had read that the park opens at 6. We managed to get through the first gate, but the reception, where we had to buy the entrance permit, didn't open until 7.

Well, we still managed to catch the sunrise and were also lucky with the animals on the second day. We came across a huge herd of elephants, probably twelve animals, all walking in a long line to the waterhole - and we were right in the middle. It was really impressive.