|
Addo is best known for its proximity to the main entrance of the main entrance of the Greater Addo National Park. Addo is a small town in the Sundays River Valley and is surrounded by orange orchards and game reserves.
ADDO
Addo is best known for its proximity to the main entrance of the main entrance of the Greater Addo National Park. Addo is a small town in the Sundays River Valley and is surrounded by orange orchards and game reserves. The Sundays River Valley was originally a dry and desolate place, known only for the amount of game in the area. After the First World War the South African statesman and author, Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, conceived an idea of bringing British officers who had served in the trenches to the valley to encourage them to grow citrus. The scheme had a long birth due to the arid nature of the valley, but in the 1930s, after the erection of the Darlington Dam irrigation scheme, the area grew to be one of the most successful and innovative schemes in the country.
Addo is named after an old Khoi San word meaning “brackish water”, and until the irrigation scheme the scarcity and the quality of the water was a continuous problem. For this reason it was one of the last areas in the Eastern Cape to be settled en masse by any people. As a result the area became the final refuge for the once vast Cape elephant herds. For many years these animals and the local farmers had a relationship marked by their animosity and there were concerted efforts to exterminate the beasts. The elephant took refuge in the thick Addo bush, in 1930 the attempts to exterminate the elephant were abandoned and the Addo Elephant National Park was created in stead. The Addo Park has proven to be one of the more successful conservation efforts on the African Continent.
Source: Courtesy Eastern Cape Tourism Board - www.ectb.co.za
|
