Eastern Cape Travel Guide
The Eastern Cape is South Africa's second largest and most diverse province. It's a great sun, sand and sea destination with a coastline that runs from temperate rocky shores in the south to sub-tropical beaches in the north. There is a beach for every reason - from highly developed urban playgrounds to wild and untamed stretches of wave-washed sand. It has some of the best surf in the country - make that some of the best surf in the world. The small towns of Jeffreys Bay and St Francis Bay are renowned and very popular surf destinations and the Wild Coast has some legendary (and mostly secret) breaks.
Main destinations
Cape Town
Kruger Park
Johannesburg
Sun City
St Lucia
Garden Route
Durban
Pretoria
By Province
Eastern Cape
Free State
Gauteng
KwaZulu-Natal
Limpopo
Mpumalanga
Northern Cape
North West Province
Western Cape
Port Elizabeth is fondly referred to as "The Friendly City". A superb value-for-money holiday base, Port Elizabeth offers a diverse selection of attractions as a family-fun holiday destination including eco-attractions, scenic nature trails, historic heritage, magnificent wildlife, cultural experiences and countless water sport activities.
Algoa Bay's 40 km of breathtaking coastline boasts a perfect combination of warm water, protected beaches and is complemented by Port Elizabeth's wonderful climate, which has been rated as having the fourth best weather of any coastal city in the world. The area also supports the most diverse array of vegetation types in South Africa as five of the country's seven terrestrial biogeographic areas are represented in the Eastern Cape.
Port Elizabeth Accommodation
South Africa
Cities
Cape Town
Johannesburg
Durban
Pretoria
Port Elizabeth
Attractions
Kruger National Park
Garden Route
St Lucia
Drakensberg
Wild Coast
Battlefields
Sun City & Pilanesberg
Provinces
Eastern Cape
Free State
Gauteng
KwaZulu-Natal
Limpopo
Mpumalanga
Northern Cape
North West province
Western Cape
East London is South Africa’s only river port, situated on the mouth of the Buffalo River, so called by the Khoi San because of the large number of these animals roaming the area. It was eventually settled as a means of providing supplies to the garrisons, who were protecting the white settlers from the Xhosas.
In the late 1850s the population of East London was boosted by the introduction of some German settlers, most of whom were bachelors. In 1857 the British Government took pity on them and a cargo of 157 Irish girls arrived to help lift morale.
East London accommodation
The majority of visitors to South Africa head along the coastline, missing out beautiful places like the Karoo, the scenery changes from rugged mountain peaks to semi-arid plateaus. Game viewing is available at Mountain Zebra National park, bizarre rock formations in the Valley od desolation. The largest town in the area, Graaff Reinet is the fourth oldest in the country and has over 200 buildings which are National monuments. Nieu Bethesda is home to Owl House, home to Helen Martins and her lifes work.