ELEANOR DOUGLAS-MEYERS
Helen Crooks knows Addo Elephant National Park in a way few casual visitors ever could. An author, photographer and proudly self-confessed “Addo addict”, she has spent years returning to the park, collecting the kind of wild, funny and unexpected encounters that have now found their way into her book, Safari Adventures with an Addo Addict.
When you’ve visited Addo Elephant National Park often enough to describe yourself as an “Addo addict”, you learn a few things.
You learn that checking the weather before leaving home can make or break a day of sightings. You learn that sometimes seeing nothing for a while is actually part of the experience. You learn that a tortoise can cause a perfectly legitimate traffic jam.
And, according to Helen Crooks, when an elephant gets particularly close to your car, sometimes all you can do is switch off the engine, stay calm and tell it you love it.
Crooks has gathered those lessons, stories and plenty of photographs into Safari Adventures with an Addo Addict, a 124-page, full-colour hardcover book designed to help readers experience Addo through the eyes of someone who knows the park very well.
Addo for first-timers and regulars
The book is primarily aimed at people planning their first visit to Addo, but Crooks hopes regular visitors will find something that makes them want to head back too.
Part practical guide and part collection of safari experiences, it explores everything from when to visit and what conditions can mean for sightings to the unexpected moments that make a self-drive through Addo memorable.
One of Crooks’ biggest pieces of advice is to check the weather before you go.
“If it has rained a lot, sightings can be few and far between. If it is windy, animals tend to hide in the bush,” she told 041Online.
Then there are those particularly hot Eastern Cape days.
“The positive side of extremely high temperatures is that animals will flock to waterholes.”
It’s the kind of information that comes from spending a lot of time in the park rather than simply visiting once or twice.
Crooks’ own love affair with the bush began while working at the Weekend Post, where one of the perks of the job was visiting game reserves and writing about them.
After retiring, she could finally enjoy those trips without the work attached.
Addo was close to home, affordable and offered a diverse animal population. When Crooks found herself visiting three times a month, she realised the addiction had officially set in.
“It is a good, healthy addiction and one that has not waned,” she said.
What happens when an elephant approaches your car?
For first-time visitors, few Addo experiences are quite as exciting, or intimidating, as having an elephant walk towards your vehicle.
Crooks’ advice is simple.
“Be calm, Addo ellies are incredibly laid back. Make sure the car engine is off and do not be tempted to turn it back on.”
She has one more piece of advice, although you probably won’t find it in an official park manual.
“My personal favourite in this situation is to look the ellie in the eye and say, ‘I love you’. Sometimes, I swear the feeling is mutual.”
It’s this combination of practical advice, humour and personal experience that gives Safari Adventures with an Addo Addict its character.
Addo isn’t only about elephants
The photographs tell another part of the story.
With the exception of a photograph of Crooks surrounded by elephants, taken by her friend Anne Laing, the images in the book are Crooks’ own.
Rather than trying to create a traditional wildlife photography book, she chose images that show the quirkier and sometimes unexpected side of Addo.
One memorable photograph shows a tortoise holding up a stream of cars as it ambles along the road, because in Addo, the animals always have right of way.
Another of Crooks’ favourites came at the end of a long day when she was watching two “amorous ostriches”.
“I heard the unmistakable trumpeting of a group of ellies, which chased the amorous pair over quite a distance,” she recalled.
The book also includes pages of standalone photographs celebrating Addo’s diversity and those moments when being in exactly the right place at exactly the right time feels, as Crooks puts it, “like hitting the jackpot”.
A safari right on our doorstep
One of the strongest messages behind Safari Adventures with an Addo Addict is just how much there is to experience close to home.
For Nelson Mandela Bay residents, Addo is within easy driving distance, yet Crooks believes we don’t always appreciate just how fortunate we are to have this kind of wildlife experience on our doorstep.
She also wants readers to look beyond the traditional idea of what constitutes a safari.
“A safari is not just about the Big Five,” she said.
The book ventures beyond Addo to include other wildlife experiences in the Eastern and Western Cape, with Crooks highlighting animals and even insects that might otherwise be overlooked.
It’s an approach that carries over to her Safari on a Shoestring Facebook page, where she shares wildlife experiences with an emphasis on making them more accessible without spending a fortune.
But perhaps one of the most valuable lessons in the book is that a good day in the bush doesn’t need to be measured by how many animals you manage to tick off a list.
“Sometimes sightings come thick and fast but often there can be long spells without a sighting,” Crooks said.
“That is actually a bonus, it gives you time to destress, to recharge batteries. Just being alone in the bush is food for the soul.”
From journalist to author
After a career in journalism and as a sub-editor, writing the book came naturally to Crooks.
“My writing style was and still is to make people want to share my experiences,” she said.
The surprise was finding herself on the other side of the publishing process.
“Being a published author is something of a surprise to me.”
It might not be a one-off either. Crooks is already working on a second book, which will once again feature Addo while taking readers to other South African wildlife hotspots.
For now, though, Safari Adventures with an Addo Addict offers readers the chance to see one of the Eastern Cape’s best-known destinations through the eyes of someone who keeps going back.
And back.
And back again.
Get your copy
Safari Adventures with an Addo Addict is a 124-page, full-colour hardcover book featuring Helen Crooks’ experiences, photographs and practical advice for exploring Addo and other wildlife destinations.
The book is available for R495.
To order a copy, email addobook2026@gmail.com.
Readers can also follow Safari on a Shoestring on Facebook for more of Crooks’ Addo adventures and ideas for enjoying wildlife experiences without spending a fortune.
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