Two different places
Addo Elephant National Park is a public national park managed by SANParks. Its roads are shared by guided safaris and by visitors driving their own cars, and it is the place most travellers mean when they say “Addo”: the elephant park, malaria-free and home to the Big Five.
Schotia is a private game reserve near Addo. It is not part of the national park, and a Schotia safari does not enter Addo. The Schotia safaris here include the reserve’s own fee instead of the SANParks conservation fee.
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A booking link that says Addo
The Schotia safari with port pickup carries “shore excursion Addo” in its booking link, but it stays in the Schotia reserve. If Addo Elephant National Park is what you want to see, choose one of the Addo safaris.
How the safaris differ
- Vehicle: the Schotia port safari runs in an open safari vehicle. The Addo full-day safaris vary — the Afroventures safari uses a closed, air-conditioned 4x4, and for the Addo Game Drives safari the product page states the vehicle.
- Duration: 5 hours for the Schotia port safari and 6 for the Schotia Big 5 safari, against 8 to 9 hours for an Addo full day from Gqeberha.
- Pickup: the Schotia port safari starts at the Gqeberha harbour. For the Schotia Big 5 safari, check the product page for where the pickup is.
- Fees: the Schotia safaris include the reserve fee; the Addo full-day safaris include the national park fee.
- Lunch: included on both Addo safaris above, as a braai on the Addo Game Drives safari. For the Schotia safaris, the product page lists what is provided.
What travellers report from Schotia
Reviewers of the Schotia port safari praise the guides and the range of animals they saw; one lists rhino, hippos and giraffes alongside elephants and buffalo, another counts four of the Big Five, and one compares it favourably with an Addo excursion the next day. None of that is a promise — one reviewer notes that animals were moving slowly in the midday heat, and one missed a rhino sighting while travelling in a convoy of vehicles.
On busy port days the logistics are the weak spot: one reviewer describes around 60 passengers being divided between the jeeps with long waits before the start.
Reviewers of the Schotia Big 5 safari praise the guides and how hard they work to find the animals; one counts at least four of the Big Five, another describes a long encounter with two lions. The title promises more than any reserve can guarantee, though: one reviewer saw “only the Big 4”, and one saw no lions. Several reviewers criticise how guests were divided between the jeeps and seats, which decides how much you see, and two critical reviews find the pickup and briefing poorly organised. One reviewer found the fenced reserve zoo-like, and one who had been to Addo the day before preferred Addo.
What Addo offers instead
Addo is the name on the map, and its elephants are the reason most visitors come. The park is home to the Big Five, but lions turn up some of the time, while leopard and rhino are rare. A full day from Gqeberha gives you time to cover the park’s roads, with the park fee included and, on the safaris above, lunch as well. The trade-off is length and, on some safaris, a closed vehicle.
Which one fits your day?
- Choose Addo if seeing the elephant park itself matters to you, you have a full day, and a national park with room to roam is part of the appeal.
- Choose Schotia if an open vehicle and a shorter outing matter more than the Addo name — for example on a port day with an early all-aboard time.
Arriving by ship? Our shore excursion page sets out the harbour pickups for both.
