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South Africa: Eastern Cape

Overview

The Eastern Cape occupies the south-east of South Africa, covering 169,580km2 (65,475mi2), which is 13.9 per cent of the total, and has a population of just over 6 million. It’s sandwiched between two glamorous neighbours, the Western Cape and Kwazulu-Natal, and has sometimes been unfairly ignored as a result. But this is a province with a wide range of attractions, including long stretches of unspoiled coastline, immense dunes, an interesting history and culture, varied wildlife and some attractive towns.

The north-west of the province is occupied by part of the Karoo, a beautiful, stark region of semi-desert that covers a lot of central South Africa. A visit to the Karoo’s Mountain Zebra National Park is a great way to combine wildlife-watching with an appreciation of the region’s arid plains and stark, flat-topped hills. The undoubted highlight of the Karoo Nature Reserve is the deep Valley of Desolation, with stunning rock towers rising from the valley floor.

Around an hour inland from Port Elizabeth are two of the province’s better game reserves, Addo Elephant Park and the Shamwari Game Reserve (the latter boasting of being the only one of South Africa’s game reserves that’s free of malaria all year).

In the north-east of the province is a section of the Drakensberg mountain range (called the ‘barrier of spears’ by Zulus), marking the transition from ‘highveld’ (high altitude grassland) to ‘lowveld’ (low altitude grassland), with spectacular scenery, lakes and waterfalls, offering great walking and fishing country. There are also examples of San rock art, and one of South Africa’s prettiest and most complete Victorian villages, Rhodes, is to be found here. Near Rhodes is Tiffendell, South Africa’s only ski resort, but skiing is usually on artificial snow because the real thing tends to melt soon after it has fallen.

North-east of East London is the Wild Coast (formerly Transkei), the poorest part of the province but with a wild, hilly coast that’s both very beautiful and a great hazard for shipping, as the number of shipwrecks confirms. The Wild Coast’s largest town is Umtata, an impressively ugly place, offering little of interest. But the 60km (37mi) drive from Umtata to Port St Johns on the coast offers spectacular scenery.

Port Elizabeth

Port Elizabeth (also known as PE and the ‘Friendly City’), on the far south coast on elegant Algoa Bay and at one end of the Garden Route, is the province’s commercial and transport centre. It’s South Africa’s sixth-largest city, with a population of around 780,000. The town is undergoing extensive development: 20 minutes away is the Coega Project, a massive new harbour complex that will create thousands of jobs and be a catalyst for a great deal of investment in the region. It also has some attractive beaches and a historical centre to compensate for the smokestacks and oil tankers.

Other Towns & Resorts

To the east of Port Elizabeth, on the so-called ‘Sunshine Coast’, are some resorts with stunning locations, including Kenton-on-Sea (see below). The Karoo (see above) is home to Graaff-Reinet, arguably the Eastern Cape’s most beautiful town and one of the oldest in South Africa, founded in 1786. The east of the Eastern Cape is its least developed part, with East London the only city and the second-largest in the province (with a population of 425,000, it’s South Africa’s tenth-largest). It has good connections with the rest of South Africa and some excellent beaches, but not a great deal else of interest.

Inland from East London lies Bisho, the provincial capital, but a place of little interest. Important towns in the province include Aliwah North, which is famous for its hot sulphur springs; Cradock, which is the hub of the Central Karoo; Grahamstown, the so-called City of Saints, with over 40 churches; King William’s Town, famous for early settlers and military history; Stutterheim, the centre of the province’s forestry industry; and Uitenhage, a centre of vehicle-manufacturing.

Population

The Eastern Cape has a population of 6.3 million (15.5 per cent of the country’s total).

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