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Not 4x4 tours Game Parks South Africa


Travelingman52
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Having received the excursion brochure for our up coming tour to South Africa, we were disappointed to note that all of the visits to game reserves came with a warning that anyone with back problems etc. should not book on them. As my wife has had recent spinal surgery we will not therefore be partaking on any of the planned activities, this is of course a great disappointment as we were hoping to visit the Elephant park at Port Elizabeth. 

I would be grateful for any suggestions.

 

 

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Addo Elephant Park has both hard surfaced roads and dirt roads - vehicles are not permitted to go ‘off road’. It would certainly be possible to do a visit to Addo and not do any rough stuff.

When we visited Addo as part of a diy land tour, we used a guide and his Land Rover in the morning and drove around in our rental car in the afternoon.

If you could find a private guide in PE, you could customise your own ‘smooth’ tour.

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We drove Addo Elephant Park in a very ordinary little 2WD rental car.

There's an area, the Kabouga Trail which is just for 4x4's, but the bulk of the park is tarmac and smooth dirt roads and, as Omega's post, off-roading isn't permitted.

We weren't concerned about bumpy roads, but I do recall it as being smooth.

 

Three suggestions

- ask the excursion provider (the cruise line?) whether the route ccvers 4x4-only territory. Sometimes cruise lines do go o.t.t. about steps,  walking difficulties etc, and they're probably just being  as o.t.t. about bumpy rides.

-  fix up your own car & driver - a 4x4 is not necessary, but if the operator is experienced with Addo (and therefore likely to be knowledgeable about the wildlife) it probably will be a 4x4.

- rent a car from a Port Elizabeth rental agency & drive yourselves. It really is very simple.

 

BTW apart from elephants there's an abundance of game (zebras, Cape buffalo, kudu & other antelope), warthogs, hyenas, etc but the park is light on big cats - we didn't see one.

 

JB :classic_smile:

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The elephant park is mainly on paved roads - not a problem.   We were in Tanzania in December and rode over miles and miles of unsaved roads and a LOT of bumps.   Never had a back problem until we did this tour.   It resolved itself after about 4 weeks when we come home but it did make me a bit squeamish about anything that can cause back problems.

 

Would not hesitate to do the elephant park.   It is not a true safari but for your purposes, it would be fine.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks to all who have replied to my post. I will take all of your comments onboard. It is getting close now and I really need to get this sorted it is going to be a big thing on this trip of a lifetime and it is my responsibility to make the trip happen for my OH.

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