The coast of the Eastern
Cape is dominated by sweeping uncluttered beaches, exotic river mouths and hidden coves. The famous Wild Coast remains just that –
wild, untamed and naturally preserved.
The hills are topped with Xhosa villages and farms where the
way of life hasn’t changed for hundreds of years and the scenes
are more reminiscent of rural Tanzania or Kenya than any other part
of South Africa. It’s a great place to meet the local
villagers or take a lonely stroll on an endless and empty beach.
The Tsitsikamma National Park is a place of awe-inspiring beauty, where
the booming breakers of the Indian Ocean relentlessly pound rocky
shores. Ancient rivers carve their paths to the ocean down
ravines, earning Tsitsikamma its name, which in Xhosa means ‘the
place of much water’. The park extends five km out into the
sea and protects a wonderland of inter-tidal life, reef and deep sea
fish. Storms River is a tiny scattered hamlet with shady lanes situated
outside the Tsitsikamma National Park. If you are only passing through, make
sure you take a moment to stop at the bridge over the Storms River
for magnificent views up and down the gorge. Even better, head for
the Storms River Mouth in Tsitsikamma where there are a number
of short walking trails. One has a wonderfully wobbly suspension
bridge that gives you a superb experience of coast and forest.
The principle city in the Eastern Cape is Port Elizabeth, but it’s
an industrial giant and there’s not much to see. Rather push
on to the excellent Addo Elephant National Park. It has recently
been extended and now covers 370 000 ha of terrestrial park and 120
000 ha of marine territory. It’s now possible to see the Big
Seven here - lion, rhino, buffalo, leopard, elephant, shark and whale.
Lions were recently introduced, but the highlight here is the elephants
of which there are over 300. It’s fascinating to watch them
emerge from dense tangles of creepers and trees and guide their
young towards the waterholes.
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