Eastern Cape

The Eastern Cape is known as Settler Country, the setting for the nine Frontier Wars fought between white settlers and the Xhosa, enduring a turbulent beginning. Despite all of this, Settler Country is an area in which culture and industry have enjoyed a high priority. Port Elizabeth being the hub, has the country’s third largest port and is the fifth largest city in South Africa. The city and surrounding area offers a lot of history, magnificent beaches and some of the best malaria-free game reserves in South Africa. Port Elizabeth is also one of the main gateways into the Garden Route.

A great combination of the Game Reserves, South African Culture, Beaches and the Garden Route!

Just outside of Port Elizabeth is the Addo Elephant National Park, one of the world’s most ambitious multi-biome conservation projects, comprising some 164 000 hectares. ‘The only protected place in the world where one can see the big 7’- Most definitely an interesting and educational place to have a picnic with your children!

Travelling inland from Port Elizabeth, you visit the cultural heart of the Eastern Cape, Grahamstown ‘The City of Saints and Scholars’, with its many places of worship and fine schools. Every year in July, the city hosts the renowned National Arts Festival, a 10-day extravaganza of theatre, music, and fine art! Here you will also find many reminiscences from the Fourth Frontier War and the 1820 Settlers. The area is steeped in history.

Further north, is the ‘Gem of the Karoo’, Graaff Reinet. This lovely town consists of rows of white, flat-roofed Karoo cottages, Cape Dutch masterpieces and ornate Victorian mansions.

Graaff-Reinet is the only town in South Africa virtually surrounded by a nature reserve – the Karoo Nature Reserve. From a popular view-site above the town, called the Valley of Desolation, you will be able to enjoy breathtaking views of the sweeping plains of the Great Karoo. From Graaff-Reinett, you can also visit Nieu-Bethesda, Cradock and the Mountain Zebra National Park.

The magic of the Amatola Mountains and the charming village of Hogsback, is what many people in the Eastern Cape talk about. Hogsback perches on the edge of the Tyume Valley and is overlooked by the three highest peaks of the mountain range, which resemble the bristles on the back of a bushpig. Much of the appeal is found in the short walks, known as ‘piggy walks’, through the surrounding forests and pine plantations. Your family can enjoy a 4 hour walk through the forest, to the Big Tree for a picnic, before continuing to the Madonna-and-Child falls, with its feathery cascading veil.

East of the Great Fish River lies the land of the Xhosa, the Wild Coast. It has a magnificent and rugged coastline, dense coastal forests and lush coastal grasslands. Its wild beauty is exciting to most. One of the areas famous landmarks is the spectacular Hole in the Wall.  Some of the towns and cities you can visit along this coastal area are Qunu (Nelson Mandela’s Birth place), East London, Port Alfred (a favourite spot for fisherman) and the pineapple centre of Bathurst.