CHILD POLICY

Although very few game lodges in South Africa accommodate children under 12 years of age and even fewer under 6 years of age, we realise the importance of catering for guests who have young children as well as the enormous benefit that these little people derive from a bush experience. We therefore accept children of all ages at Gorah.

There are however limitations that we ask you to appreciate to enable us to continue to accommodate our little guests and facilitate a comfortable experience for all our other in-house guests. There are also certain physical limitations on the side of children which has been taken into account.

We therefore only accommodate children six years and older on the "adult" drives. Children under 12 years of age are also, however, encouraged to go on the children's safari and programme rather than on the "adult" drives. The adult drives are up to 4 hours long, which is too long for small children, so kiddies drives will be limited to 1 hour or 1 ½ hours. On the children's safari drive the ranger will avoid potential danger situations by not approaching too closely either elephant, buffalo or black rhino, and concentrate rather on the antelope and smaller game. Any children under 12 on any drives must be accompanied by at least one of their parents.

The Children's (under 6 years) safari programme is as follows:
07:15 Morning Game Drive
08:45 Breakfast
10:00 Swim, play and bush school
13:00 Lunch
15:30 Afternoon Game Drive
18:00 Children's Dinner
19:30 Children's Bedtime

Please note that NO children under 6 years old will be allowed in the main dining room during dinner i.e. after 7:30pm, it is simply too disruptive to other guests dining at this time.

Children up to 12 years can be accommodated in the same tent as their parents on a luxury stretcher. Maximum of two children per tent. Toys and board games, special menus and party boxes on drives are available. Babysitters can be arranged for during game drives and dinner.

Finally we ask that parents be especially sensitive to the fact that Gorah is in a beautiful, quiet wilderness area and is surrounded by large numbers of wild animals; so unruly behaviour by the little chaps can be very dangerous particularly when game is close by, not only affecting the quality of game viewing around the lodge, but also the experience expected by other guests. Please be aware that children accommodated at Gorah are at all times the sole responsibility of their parents.

CLIMATE

Temperate to warm, with an annual rainfall of 450mm occurring throughout the year. Winters are chilly and summers warm to hot, though rarely exceeding mid-thirty degrees Celsius. Days of sunshine are plentiful.

WHAT TO BRING

Although the weather is moderate, it is advisable to bring a warm jacket, especially for the game drives.
As there is no electricity at the Lodge, it is important to bring charged cellphones, shaver batteries, etc.

HOW TO FIND US

Gorah Elephant Camp is a 4,500 ha concession situated right in the heart of the Addo Elephant National Park, home to the densest population of elephant in the world.

Addo Elephant National Park is situated approximately 72kms (40 mins drive) North East of Port Elizabeth, the nearest city and major airport. Port Elizabeth is located on the South Eastern coast of South Africa linking the very popular Garden Route to the Eastern Cape.

By Car : Travel East on the N2 from Port Elizabeth. Do not take the R335 to Addo. Bypass Colchester, then take N10 (North) towards Paterson/Cradock. 4km after this intersection, turn left onto Addo Road (gravel), follow for 9km. The Gorah Gate will be on your right.

By Air - Scheduled : Scheduled flights directly into Port Elizabeth from all major centres in South Africa:
Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban
By Air - Chartered : Available from all major centres as well as Plettenberg Bay

By Rail : From Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth
Transfers : By car from Port Elizabeth (per person)

• R720.00 (1pax)
• R360.00 (2 pax)
• R240.00 (4 pax)
• R210.00 (6 pax)

ANIMALS IN THE PARK

Deep within the shadows of the dense valley bushveld of the Sundays River region of the Eastern Cape is the Addo Elephant National Park. Here, safe from relentless persecution, leviathans of bush now roam in peace. Today this finely tuned ecosystem is sanctuary to over 200 elephants, buffalo, a variety of antelope species, as well as the unique flightless dung beetle, found almost exclusively in Addo.

Some of the animals you may get to see at Gorah Elephant Camp.

-Black Backed Jackal Canis Mesomelas
Muzzle, long, pointed. Ears upright, pointed. Lips, chin and throat white. Mantle of black flecked with white on back of neck, shoulders, back, upper flanks. Sides of neck, lower flanks and limbs buffy to rich reddish-brown. Tail bushy with black tip.

-Black Rhino Diceros bicornis
The second largest land animal (after the elephant). Reaches up to 1.8m high at the shoulder and weighs up to 1400kgs. Sense of sight is poor, but hearing and smell are acute. Is a browser and feeds on leaves and herbs. Has no front teeth but a prehensile upper lip with which to strip branches clean of leaves.

-Buffalo Syncerus Caffer
Curved horns on both sexes rise from heavy bases, spread out and downwards then cure up and inwards. Brownish-grey, darkening with age. Herds of up to thousands. Old bulls solitary or in small groups.

-Elephant Loxodonta africana
Largest land mammal. Females and young live in family herds. Males live in solitary or in small groups. Complex social life. Drink daily if possible, fond of bathing and wallowing. Eats about 170kg (up to 300kg) of vegetation per day.

-Kudu Tragelaphus strepsiceros
Narrow white bar across face just in front of eyes. Large ears. Wide spiralling horns on males only. Pale grey-brown with narrow vertical white stripes over back. Tail brown above, white below. Small herds in woodlands and savannah where water is available. Males and females separate except in breeding season. Mainly browses but also grazes fresh grass.

-Ostrich Struthio camelus
Long grey neck. Males, black with white wings and chestnut tail. Females, drab brown. Live in wooded grassland and thornveld.

-Red Hartebeest Alcephus buselaphus
Head, long and narrow. Black on top of muzzle. Horns are high in the head, rise straight up, curve forwards then sharply backwards. Back slopes from hump on shoulder. Brick-red with black on shoulders and legs. Pale upper rump. Herds of up to 20 sometime aggregations of hundreds. Breeding bulls territorial.

-Warthog Phacochoerus aethiopicus
Blunt muscular snout. Large tusks emerge from mouth, curve upwards and inwards. Large "warts" on side of face. Coarse, dark mane on neck and back. Rest of body sparsely bristly. Thin tail. Runs with tail held straight up.

Omnivorous. -Zebra Equus burchelli
Black muzzle. Striped black and white on the face and body. Usually pale chestnut shadow stripes on rump. No dewlap. Breeding groups of up to about 5 mares held by one stallion. Young males form bachelor herds. Grazes on short grass in grasslands and open woodlands where water is available.