How to do a self-drive Safari in South Africa - Addo Elephant National Park

There are several different opportunities when it comes to safari in South Africa. Most of them are guided tours, which are amazing because the guides know where to drive and how to spot the different animals. But another fun experience is driving on your own in Hakuna Matata-land, because that is totally possible as well!

We wanted to experience Addo Elephant National Park, which is about an hour drive outside of Port Elizabeth on the Garden Route, and about eight hours to drive from CapeTown. I would definitely recommend driving and spending a couple of days in Port Elizabeth, because you will end up spending the entire day in Addo when you’re first there.

Addo is the third largest park in South Africa, and even though it is called Addo Elephant Nation Park, you will see so many other different animals there! Lion, zebra, dung beetle, buffalo, warthog, hartebeest, rhino and amazing landscape! Can you understand why you’ll spend hours driving around?

When you enter the park in your car, you’ll get a map so that you know where you can drive. They also have a map by the gate where you can see where the different animals were spotted earlier that day. Of course, the animals move around, but then you’ll know which areas to check out. Drive very slowly so that you don’t miss out on any of the animals.

Make sure you bring snacks and something to drink, because you won’t exactly find a vending machine or a restaurant in the middle of the park. There are some designated places where you can go outside of the car, but other than that you have to stay inside the vehicle at all times. I am probably stating the obvious here, but a lion can suddenly jump out from some bushes and attack you, thinking you are a zebra, so stay in the car!

We drove very slowly because we wanted to see as much as possible. When we saw some animals we would stop the car completely and if there was a lot of animals we would turn off the engine and just watch them. It was spectacular! Especially when an elephant walked right by our car, as if we weren’t there.

At the main gate there are a restaurant, a gift shop and a kiosk so that you can buy food, snacks and something to drink. Because we ended up starting at the ‘wrong’ entrance, we ended the safari at the main gate and had a little rest there before driving back to Port Elizabeth. So it is definitely possible to start at either the south or the north gate.

One day in Addo was not enough, but because we were heading to the Kruger Park as well for a few days later on, we decided to see more of the coastal line of South Africa instead of spending several days there. But if this is the only safari you are planning, then I would definitely recommend spending two or three days. You can also go on game drives with a guide in Addo, but half the experience for us was driving by ourselves listening to ‘Circle of Life’ and exploring the wonders of South Africa.

The adorable penguins at Boulders Beach

During my trip to South Africa, we actually saw a lot of different kind of animals. One of the highlights was to go cage diving with the Great White Shark, but another highlight was visiting the adorable penguins at Boulders Beach! This really is a must-see place when visiting South Africa.

Boulders Beach is in Simons Town, about an hour drive from Cape Town. It is easy to drive down there by yourself, like we did, or there are several organized tours from CapeTown which will take you to Boulders Beach and Cape of Good Hope. I am really glad we drove there because we had great flexibility and we could stay there for as long as we wanted. Of course, we didn’t spend enough time with the little tuxedoed creatures even though we were there for a few hours, so make sure you have enough time.

You have to pay a small fee to enter the giant granite boulders where the penguins sunbathe during the day, but is it totally worth it! There is a boardwalk that will take you to the boulders where you can look at the penguins from a distance. No one is allowed down at the beach where the majority of the penguins are, as this is their area. However, if you continue along the boardwalk, where you can also cross paths with a penguin, you will find a beach that is open to the public. And some of the penguins do come there as well, and if you are brave enough to dive into the ocean then you can swim with them! That is one heck of an experience to go home with, believe me!

But don’t go too close to the penguins, even though they are irresistibly cute, because they can bite. But there are so many cute penguins to watch that you don’t really have to go all up in their face, you can simply watch them swim, waddling across the beach and hug each other. Remember that we are on their territory. It is not allowed to touch them and it is important to respect that. But it truly is a spectacular experience, and you can’t visit Cape Town without taking the drip down to Boulders Beach. It is the perfect place to stop on the popular drive down to Cape of Good Hope, and I honestly think Boulders Beach was far more exciting the southern west point of continental Africa.

White shark cage diving

One of the highlights from my trip to South Africa was when I went cage diving to observe the Great White Shark! This was an absolutely fantastic experience that everyone should do at some point. The great white shark is seriously misunderstood and they were so beautiful! I have had several people laugh at me when I´ve said this, but seriously – they were amazing! And to be able to look at them so close is spectacular, yet terrifying. But I am so glad we did it!

We booked the trip before arriving, just to be sure that the trip would not be full by the time we got there. We were in South Africa just as the tourism season was over, which meant that it was not as busy as it usually is. And that worked out perfectly. The boat could take 20 people, we were 10. So we actually had more time in the cage and on the boat.

The company we used was ´White Shark Africa´ and they have an office in Mossel Bay, about a four-hour drive from Cape Town. We were driving the Garden Route so it was natural to stop in Mossel Bay and spend a night there, which I would recommend if you´re planning on going cage diving as well. Because chances are you have to wake up at 6am, but there are several guest houses in Mossel Bay that are cheap and very nice and close to the harbour.

We started the day with breakfast at the White Shark Africa office, where they also talk about the safety on the boat and what we could expect during the day. They also talked about the sharks, how sharks typically behave and basically told us a lot of information about these animals. After about an hour at the office we walked down to the boat. The trip from the dock and to the location, which is Seal Island, is only about ten minutes. I absolutely loved that, because there is nothing more boring than spending hours on a boat without seeing or doing anything, and then you only have a short period of time at the location before you have to start going back. We had a lot of time at the shark location, which was fantastic!

Sharks are of course wild animals so we had no idea how long we had to wait until they came close to the boat. The crew has bait which they use to attract the sharks. We only waited about five minutes before we saw the fins. We hurried up and got into our wet suits and went into the cage. The crew would then tell us when to hold our breath and whether to look left, right or straight ahead. And the sharks came very close – they bumped into the cage, they bit on the cage, they jumped and we all loved it! It was such a great rush; unlike anything I have experienced before.

We were the first group to go into the cage and I think we were there for about an hour before we switched and the second group could experience it. We then had some time to observe the animals from the boat and that was also a lot of fun. And because the sharks would go cray for the bait, we also got a little wet even on the boat.

When we got back to the office we could talk to the crew about the day, ask questions and have some lunch before leaving. The crew was so helpful and knowledgeable and super friendly. They gave us that little extra, which made the experience even better!