World Country Guide

The Eastern Cape

The Eastern Cape is South Africa’s hidden gem, much of it little known and underexplored by tourists, but with an extraordinary variety of cultural history and scenic beauty, ranging from the vast, dry Great Karoo to the fertile agricultural lands of the Little Karoo and the ‘Settler Country’ around Grahamstown and, above all, the magnificent cliffs and coves of the Wild Coast. The Eastern Cape is also home to two of the country’s major seaports, East London and Port Elizabeth, and several excellent small game reserves, including Addo Elephant Park. The area around East London is the homeland of the Xhosa people, many of whom, including Nelson Mandela, have played a crucial role in recent South African history.
‘PE’, as the city is known locally, is unremarkable, being dominated by industry and freeways and subject to strong winds for most of the year. The City Hall and Market Square are worth a visit, containing a replica of the Dias Cross, originally placed by the Portuguese navigator Bartholomew Dias. There are several other interesting buildings, including a memorial to Prester John, the Campanile Clock Tower and the Donkin Lighthouse, while the old part of town, above the city centre, has some attractive Victorian houses. The Museum, Oceanarium and Snake Park are also on the seafront at Humewood. The King George IV Art Gallery & Fine Arts Hall has an excellent collection of 19th- and 20th-century art and Castle Hill Museum, in the city’s oldest house, has a fine collection of Cape furniture. Settler’s Park Nature Reserve at How Avenue abounds with indigenous flora and St George’s Park has open-air exhibitions and craft fairs, as well as theatrical productions. South of the city are good beaches, such as King’s Beach and Humewood Beach. The latter features the Apple Express, one of the few remaining narrow-gauge steam trains, which runs on occasion from Humewood to Thornhill.
The Eastern Cape portion of the Garden Route (see also Western Cape) notably includes the Tsitsikamma Coastal National Park, the remnant of a once-massive indigenous forest, home to immense native trees such as yellowwoods. Jeffreys Bay is a world-renowned surfer’s paradise. Heading north, miles and miles of sandy beaches run all the way up the coast. The Alexandria State Forest is a reserve that runs along the coast and contains a hiking trail along the beach. East from here is Dias Cross, the location of one of Bartholemew Dias’ stone crosses and a desolate paradise for beach lovers.
Inland, the Karoo is a vast and beautiful upland area with spectacular sunsets: drier, hotter and colder than the coasts. The novelist Olive Schreiner made the area famous and her house at Cradock has been restored. The Mountain Zebra National Park is worth a visit, on the northern slopes of the Bankberg range.
The Addo Elephant National Park, 72km (45 miles) north of Port Elizabeth, was created in 1931 to protect the last of the eastern Cape elephants. Recently massively expanded, it offers an excellent range of game, including black rhino, buffalo and antelope and more than 170 bird species. There are also several private reserves nearby, including the excellent Shamwari and Kwandwe, both of which have very upmarket accommodation and ‘Big Five’ (elephant, lion, leopard, rhino and buffalo) game viewing.
The town of Graaff-Reinet, situated in the heart of the Karoo Nature Reserve at the foot of the Sneeuberg Mountains, is one of the finest surviving Cape-Dutch towns in South Africa, with many attractive 18th- and 19th-century buildings, as well as parks and museums. Just 5km (3 miles) outside the town, it is possible for visitors to drive into the Valley of Desolation along a twisting single-track road that eventually climbs into the mountains.
From the viewpoints, it is possible to look down over Graaff-Reinet across towering red and ochre outcrops of rock. The nearby town of Nieu Bethesda is worth a visit for the Owl House, a remarkable sculpture garden by eccentric artist Helen Martins, subject of a play by Athol Fugard.