Centrestage is coming to Addo!

The Sundowners, the younger members of the Women's Institute, is bringing Centrestage to Addo!

Centrestage will be performing Beatles & Creedence Clearwater Revival, a fundraiser, on 19 Feb 2016 at the Valentine Hall, Addo.

Bring all your own food, drinks, blankets, cushions, chairs etc that will make your evening as fun and comfortable as possible. 

All funds will go to children and animals in the Sundays River Valley

Needing accommodation? Check out Addo Tourism's website for where to stay and what to do.

Accommodation within walking distance/very short drive is Homestead, Bydand B&B and Chrislin African Lodge (all along Valentine Road)

Christmas Blooms in Addo

What a treat, in the summer heat, to be surrounded by such natural Christmas decorations.

Addo, renowned to be extremely hot in summer, can be insufferably hot and humid. Chrislin's garden, maintained by David and his staff, are boasting some beautiful blooms for the silly season. Agapanthas, crysanthemums, jacaranda, bougainvillea, to name but a few, keep our tempers cool and spirits up. Now, for some chilled wine and bilton (milk and cookies!).

Perennial agapantha's, such a Christmas treat!

Aloes, still adding colour to the summer garden

Garden Hut, ideal spot to cool down after a hot summer's day.

Sparkling pool, Sunset Huts and green garden

Things to do in the area...or just relax and rejuvenate at the pool

Watch the kids from the sun loungers, bliss in the bush!

shower at the pool

Thorn tree shade

Sneezewoods, the venue for your Christmas dinner

Local decor to liven up the festive season

Colourful crysanthemums

Beautiful bougenvilla

Jacaranda, bringing bees and beauty

Canna, another Christmas treat

Jack, besides being the best friend, also guides Santa and his reindeer

Addo accommodation January discount

Take advantage of your discount and add a +CrissCrossAddo safari to your holiday. From Addo Park open vehicle safari's to river safari's to quad biking to fishing... welcome to the Adventure Province of South Africa!

Addo Accommodation December Discount!

Eish in the Addo

Eish in the Addo

Wildlife guide Conrad Cramer was at the Addo Elephant National Park in South Africa when he came across a baby elephant lifting

his head and flaring his ears at a full-grown African Buffalo.

 

 

 

Luckily, the calf walked away with nothing more than damaged pride. And according to Cramer, even the elephant's relatives agreed that the buffalo was in the right.
"The other elephants were in no way disturbed by the chain of events," Cramer said, adding that they viewed the altercation as a "life lesson that the youngster had to learn."

Read the Mail Online for more photos and information. 

Follow Conrad Cramer on Twitter (@skindiboy), Facebook and Instagram (africanmandreaming) for more beautiful animal pictures.

Top Choice in Lonely Planet

Addo accommodation, Chrislin African Lodge, is a Top Choice in the Lonely Planet

At it again - more renovations

Chrislin African Lodge, near the Addo Elephant Park, is at it again. We're renovating the Orchard Huts with new thatch roofs & floor tiles.

The Garden Huts will now all have verandahs and new thatch roofs too. 

 We're taking advantage of Winter to update our Addo accommodation for the busy Summer months.

Adrenalin Addo

Adrenalin Addo

About a year ago, Ryan and Katie Tayler-Smith invited locals to soar through the skies, over our flowing Sundays River at their new enterprise, Adrenalin Addo. Africa's Longest Double Zip Line and Giant Swing awaited us!

With butterflies fluttering in my tummy, nervous giggles and much curiosity, a few friends and I arrived to a warm welcome and reassuring smiles.

Zip Line and Giant Swing

A lovely walk up the cliff followed with great explanations on the local area, history, vegetation and old fossils. Upon climbing the tower, I lost myself in the view of the Sundays River Valley. How did the original Settlers ever find their way here? What blood, sweat and tears has it taken to develop this beautiful Valley? What amazing stories of hardship, perseverance, joy and fellowship flow through this area. I was brought back to reality with a jangling of equipment and radio controls beckoning the next zip-liners! With jelly legs we stepped up to the platform, tested our kit and let goooooooo. What a rush! It was all over far too quickly, I just wanted to go again! I would have loved to have zipped with a go-pro to relive the experience!

Next was the Giant Swing. Well, I have to admit that I got hoisted up and couldn't actually go through with it. HOWEVER, I returned recently and can claim that it is belly-droppingly fantastic! A combo of the both MUST be done by all.

I only had to recently read a Tripadvisor comment to feel the excitement again:

“Geezers Zippity Do Dah, too!”

5 of 5 stars Reviewed 9 March 2015

We had a great time at Adrenalin Addo. The staff fitted us with our equipment very carefully, with safety their top priority. As we hiked up the steep rocky hill to the tower, Bianca taught us about plants and fossils as we passed, thereby allowing me to start breathing normally again. I am 71 yrs and asthmatic, but have done bungee jumps, tech. mountain climbing, and parachuting in the distant past. It was evident the equipment was excellent, and our guide was very well trained and personable. Bianca did mention that an 82 year old person had done the Zip Line as had a four year old child. If that wasn't incentive enough, our grand daughter (who did not choose to jump) had told her entire school class that grandma would be doing a Zip Line. So Bianca counted 3, 2, 1,........and we did not jump. It was just such a big first step. Then I thought I'd try sitting down on the edge. The equipment held me, and off we both went. 
What fun! And very safe. And affordable. We highly recommend you all do it!
Even Geezers like us. - Janet and Tim

It's wonderful that Addo is seriously adding value to the Eastern Cape's "Adventure Capital of South Africa". We proudly lay claim to Crisscross Adventure Company and Adrenalin Addo, among other smaller adventures and events happening throughout the year.

Addo Tourism on Adrenalin Addo
Crisscross Adventure Package deal with Adrenalin Addo
FireFly YouTube video 

Spekboom

The indigenous and evergreen Spekboom occurs widespread in the Eastern Cape, especially right here in the Sundays River Valley.

There is even a Spekboom Tented Camp in the Addo Elephant National Park!

Addo's Suikerbossie Nursery owner, Stef Pringle, says that spekboom makes a gorgeous garden plant used to add colourful and lush dimension to an indigenous aloe or succulent garden with its sappy green foliage and spectacular display of pink/purple flowers from October/November. This will attract numerous bird species as well as insects *[and elephants ;) ] to your garden. This beautiful indigenous plant is very hardy, requires minimal attention and easy to grow from cuttings. Great  contribution to our environment by cultivation and growing spekboom.  

It can reach heights of about 2.5m to 5m tall 'trees'. Locals use them as hedges to prevent dust from entering the homestead while some farmers are planting  Spekboom  for it's exceptional ability to take big quantities of carbon dioxide out of the air and convert it into oxygen. It has enormous carbon-storing capabilities. Its capacity to offset harmful carbon emissions is compared to that of moist, subtropical forest. This remarkable plant is unique in that it stores solar energy to photosynthesise at night. This makes spekboom thicket 10 times more effective per hectare at carbon fixing than any tropical rain forest. Each hectare of spekboom could capture 4,2 tons of carbon yearly. The makes South Africa very popular on the international carbon dioxide sequestration commercial market.

The stem, which can reach a diameter of 20cm, has a corklike appearance. The bright green fleshy leaves have an egg like shape. As the tree ages the colour turn yellowish.

The English name, Elephant food, originates from the habit of elephants to eat the top shoots of the "trees", causing the plants to grow and spread horizontally.

Want to read more? Spekboom Anthony Mills shares some info in Spekboom The Miracle Plant. Fascinating reading!

Want to buy? 

Go online to The Spekboom Foundation  or call Johan Swart:

Send us a email and we will get into contact with you. We can do any order from 1 plant to 1 000 000 plants.

SPEKBOOM ROOTED PLANTS GROWN IN RECYCLED PLASTIC BOTTLES

Prices:

1-49 Plants R50 each
50-5000 Plants R40 each
5000 or more Plants R30 each

Call Johan Swart

TEL: 042 230 0440
FAX: 042 230 0575
MOBILE: 076 737 3694

Email: karoo@kirkwood.co.za 

15% off ADDO accommodation

Wondering where to stay in the Addo area? Come and relax at Chrislin African Lodge, a mere 12km from the Addo Elephant Park Main Entrance on the R336. 

With it's unique African mud huts, built in the traditional way, you have the feeling of 'Africa' amidst orange groves, a twittering bird life and local South African cuisine at Sneezewoods, the in-house restaurant. 

Various excellent safari options can be booked through Crisscross Adventures, the in-house safari company.

Book now!

Kirkwood Wildlife Festival 2015

The Kirkwood Wildsfees annually attracts more than 45 000 visitors to picturesque Sundays River Valley, making it the fastest growing festival in the Eastern Cape. And one of South Africa's biggest events!

Watch the 2013 Kirkwood 'Festival of Firsts' Video

In 2014 the festival celebrated its 13th year and provides a real commitment to nature conservation highlighted by the fact that in 2011 the Kirkwood Wildfees hosted a sustainable energy expo for the first time.

The Absa Kirkwood Wildsfees 2015 will be taking place from Friday, June 26 until Sunday, June 28.

 Wildsfees firsts include being the first – and only - game auction in South Africa where disease-free buffalo from the Addo Elephant National park are for sale; the first major festival to be wheelchair friendly; one of the first South African festival to go green; and the first to host a mohair expo.

It is also the first and only festival to include a mix of over 300 specialist stalls, agricultural and wildlife expos, supervised kiddies play area, “wild rides” and live entertainment. New firsts for 2013 included an “extreme fishing” tournament, and a “Lang Lag Tafel" where diners savoured ‘smileys’ (sheep heads) while being entertained by a comedian, tandem skydives.

Award winning artists head the three-day line-up of artists from around the country. (Artists this year include Mi Casa, Snotkop, Kurt Darren, Desmond Wells and Dr Victor and many more.)

New to the 2015 festival is the Tikki Island style beach bar, which promises to be the chill place of the year!

Why not like their Facebook page for some fun installations on keeping up to date with all the latest news?

There is even an ivory springbok for sale (ivory springbok for sale) at the 2015 Kirkwood Wildsfees Game Auction.

Spending some time in the area? There are many fun and interesting things to do.

Check out:

* Chrislin African Lodge (Chrislin African Lodge) in Addo for accommodation. Stay in traditionally built mud huts (with modern conveniences!) 
* Addo Tourism (Addo Tourism) for accommodation and general information on the Sundays River Valley. 

* Also check out the Addo Tourism section on Things to Do (Things to Do) in the area.

* Crisscross Adventures (Crisscross Adventures) for Addo Park safari's in open vehicles, quad biking, canoeing, fishing, sand-boarding and more!

* Why not zip over the Sundays River on Africa's longest double zip wire at Adrenalin Addo? And/or the Giant Swing! www.adrenalinaddo.co.za

* SafariNow has a good list of local activities. (Things to do in Addo)