"Eastern Cape"

Sunshine Coast

Whether you're in the mood for an informal seaside escape, an encounter with the "Big Five" on safari, or a choice of scintillating city diversions, you're sure to find what you're looking for in the Eastern Cape.

Sunshine Coast

The Sunshine Coast boasts hundreds of kilometres of unspoilt beaches. Port Elizabeth - offering diverse leisure options from water-sports to township tours, from vibrant nightlife to nature trails - is a good base from which to explore the coastline and the interior.

The province boasts a wealth of flora and fauna, including the Big Five (elephant, lion, leopard, rhino and buffalo), in a malaria free environment. Conservation areas include the Mountain Zebra National Park and the Addo Elephant National Park. The coastal waters are rich in marine life, with abundant dolphins and the occasional whale spotted from the beaches.

The Sunday's River Valley, a major fruit producing area, is also worth seeing. The Addo Elephant National Park, home to rhino, Cape buffalo and antelope as well as elephant, is undergoing an exciting enlargement programme.

Explore Frontier Country, where the early settlers clashed with the Xhosa people, a vibrant melting pot of history, with its battlefields and forts.

Port Elizabeth, known as the "Friendly City", is the gateway to the Eastern Cape and a fun place for all the family. Historical sites include Donkin Street, where settlers from Britain set up home in 1820.

Superbly set on the shores of Algoa Bay, "The Friendly City" is the fifth biggest city in South Africa and the largest on the coast between Cape Town and Durban. A popular leisure resort, Port Elizabeth beckons with an attractive atmosphere of year-round holiday fun against a backdrop of urban activity. Its warm, welcoming nature is matched by a climate which boasts more sunshine than any other coastal town in the country.

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Climate

The coastal area of the Eastern Cape lies directly between the subtropical conditions of the Western Cape, while its inland area is bisected by the Great Escarpment, resulting in the southern reaches defined by a series of rivers and corresponding wetland fauna and flora, while the northern areas are those of the altitudinous plains of the Plateau and the Great Karoo.

These topographic inconsistencies are exemplified by the climatological conditions experienced by the towns and cities within these areas. In the North East, along the Wild Coast, towns like Port St John’s experience long, hot summer months and moderate winters.
Up towards the Free State, at towns such as Lady Grey and Aliwal North, the rise in altitude means the appropriate lowering in temperature and the towns, just a few hundred kilometres from the swelter of the other areas, experience conditions favoured more by skiers than sunbathers.

The coastal city of Port Elizabeth enjoys a daily average of 7 hours of sunshine annually. Winter (April-August) temperatures range from 7.1 degrees Celsius (44.8 degrees Fahrenheit) to 19.5 degrees Celsius (61.3 degrees Fahrenheit) and 25.4 degrees Celsius (77.8 degrees Fahrenheit).

In general, the weather of the Eastern Cape is kind to visitors. Rarely reaching extremes except perhaps in the height of the Karoo summer, its nature depends not so much upon how it changes, but how much you move across the province’s expanse and into and out of different climatological zones. And, given the wonderful variety of sights and sounds on offer in the Eastern Cape, enjoy in turn the squelch and the scrape under your tyres as you experience these distinctive weather types, stretched across the province like a travelling circus of the elements.

NON MALARIA SAFARIS

Game Lodges and Reserves in and around the Addo Area.
Eastern Cape

Kariega Park Game Lodges and Hotel
Luxurious Lodges in a private Game Reserve, which also offers beaches, hiking, game/bird viewing, golf, river sports and more

Shamwari Game Reserve
Eastern cape's only big game experience. An 1820 Settler homestead has been upgraded to a luxury hotel and wildlife is abundant. Guests can arrive by train in a museum-piece railway carriage.

Addo Elephant Park
The 200 elephants in the park are the main attraction, but you will also encounter buffalo, black rhino, warthog, eland, kudu and a variety of buck species. The park lies 75 km to the north of Port Elizabeth and is open throughout the year

Double Drift Game Reserve
Sprawling over 23000ha of dense, pristine valley bushveld, and hosting abundant wildlife, Double Drift Game Reserve is the perfect wilderness retreat.

Zuurberg Inn
Mountain getaway surrounded by Addo National Park with a sweeping view over the Addo Elephant Park down to Port Elizabeth.

Mountain Zebra National Park
Situated about 25 km west of Cradock, a sanctuary for the endangered Cape Mountain Zebra, but also home to various antelope species, caracal and over 200 bird-species

Mountain Zebra Hiking Trail
This trail passes through typical Karoo midland vegetation and the formost attraction is the Cape Mountain Zebra, as well as various others game-species and abundant birdlife

Ecca Nature Reserve
Follow a well-marked trail through this reserve near Grahamstown, to find out more about its fascinating plants, geology and history.

Hogsback Nature Reserve
Situated in the beautiful Eastern Cape, this reserve is dominated by three ridges said to resemble the bristle's on a hog's back. Come enjoy its indigenous forest with parrot and lourie, the great angling, waterfalls, horse-rides and various walks.

Big 5 Lodges:

Shamwari Game Reserve;

The Addo National Elephant Park;

Scotia Lion Safaris.

Last revised: Feb 2002

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