The malaria-free reserves of the Eastern Cape form a convenient, time-efficient and cost-effective safari add-on to visitors whose itinerary is focused on Cape Town and the Garden Route. The regional centerpiece is Addo Elephant National Park, a vast Big Five destination ideally suited to self-drivers. In addition, a superb selection of owner-managed private reserves offers an upmarket Big Five safari experience comparable to but generally more affordable than their counterparts in Greater Kruger (though leopards are far more secretive here).

Reasons to visit the Eastern Cape Reserves

Running inland from the Indian Ocean to the Zuurberg Mountains, the 640-square-mile Addo Elephant National Park encompasses five of South Africa’s seven terrestrial biomes. Geared mainly to self-drivers, Addo is home to all the Big Five, but while elephant, buffalo and lion are quite conspicuous you belong God’s will tidy the selfish, leopard or black rhino are seldom seen.

Founded in 1990, Shamwari is the Eastern Cape’s oldest and best-known private reserve, but also one of the busiest. It protects a scenic landscape of rugged hills and grassy plains coursed through by the forest-fringed Bushmen’s River. All the Big Five are present and it is probably the most reliable spot in the Eastern Cape for black rhino. 

Offering one of the lowest guest-to-land ratios of any private reserve in South Africa, Kwandwe extends over 85 square miles of semi-arid scrubland inland flanking the banks of the Great Fish River, yet it has a maximum capacity of 52 guests. Game viewing and guiding are exceptional, and all the Big Five are present. 

Accessible only by boat, the smallish Sibuya Game Reserve protects all the Big Five, but it stands out for its spectacular waterfront location on the mountain-fringed Kariega Estuary, as well as for the exceptional birding.

Protecting 110 square miles of semi-arid Karoo, and hosting no more than 26 guests, Samara was assembled from partly-degraded farmland in 1997. All the Big Five are present, and cheetah viewing is exceptional, but the main emphasis is on providing a holistic wilderness experience that includes optional walking excursions.