There are a wide range of historical and other sites and activities to enjoy in the Eastern Province, after you've visited SHAMWARI Game Reserve. There is the famous African healing village located on the reserve itself. Close at hand, historic towns, miles of sandy beaches along the Wild Coast, great golf courses, the Garden Route, and much more await your visit. Click here to view the regional map.

Port Elizabeth - The Friendly City
Port Elizabeth, Gateway to the Eastern Cape, is the perfect complement to the Garden Route, Settler Hinterland and Sunshine Coast. Located on the South Eastern coast of Africa, this major seaport and tourist destination is set along the dazzling shores of Algoa Bay, and is fondly referred to as the Friendly City. As a family and adventure holiday destination, the city offers an unbeatable and diverse mix of eco-attractions: scenic nature trails and magnificent wildlife, long golden beaches, a rich historic heritage and a unique coastal climate. Port Elizabeth is truly an ideal place to holiday, and those who take the time to discover Port Elizabeth's treasures soon encounter the genuine hospitality for which the city is renowned.

In and around the city
A variety of scenic day tours, excursions and drives await the traveler, including the 5km Donkin Heritage Trail, winding through the oldest part of Central Port Elizabeth and linking 47 places of historical interest, thus affording visitors the opportunity to explore at leisure the 1820 Settler history and architectural delights of the city. No 7 Castle Hill Museum is considered one of the oldest surviving Settler cottages in Port Elizabeth. The house, dating back to 1827, has been restored to reflect the history and elegant lifestyle of earlier days and has been furnished in mid-Victorian style.

Port Elizabeth museum Complex, one of Port Elizabeth's major tourist attractions, is situated on the beachfront at Humewood and comprises the Museum, Oceanarium, Snake Park and Tropical House. Daily dolphin and seal presentations are hosted by the Oceanarium, and the Snake Park houses a wide variety of exotic and indigenous snakes and an impressive number of Eastern Cape reptiles. The Tropical House boasts a profusion of exotic plants.

The Beaches of The Eastern Cape Province
Whether untouched or unmissable, the beaches of the Eastern Cape are among the most impressive anywhere, stretching from the Tsitsikamma National Park on South Africa's south coast across St Francis Bay and Algoa Bay and up the southeastern coast to Port Edward in southern Kwazulu-Natal - almost 1000 km of coastline. Among the more renowned are those of St Francis Bay, which provide safe, warm bathing to the thousands who flock annually to the resort towns of St Francis Bay, Cape St Francis, Aston Bay at the Seekoei River mouth and Jeffreys Bay. The latter is particularly well known for it's large, shelly beaches and surfing conditions among the best in the world.

Further North is Algoa Bay, a large bay of more than 40 kilometres of beach, from the Cape Recife Nature Reserve at it's southernmost point to Woody Cape Point at it's furthest reaches. Port Elizabeth is central to this stretch of coastline, and with excellent facilities, warm water, safe bathing and a mild, sunny climate, is a premier recreation and watersport venue. King's Beach forms the centrepiece here, 1,6km of enjoyment from the harbour wall to the suburb of Humewood. Nearby Pollock Beach is a favorite among surfers, while at the sheltered rock pools and golden sands of Hobie Beach, the city hosts the annual 'Splash' Festival of world-class volleyball and boardsailing. The bay is regarded as one of the best sailing venues in the world, while scuba-diving is of world class quality with beautiful reefs, shipwrecks, fish and colourful coral species.

For those to whom a beach means only sun, wind, sand and sea, the beaches of the Wild Coast are ideal. While the angry sea may not be hospitable t o those who revel in watersports, the beaches offer an unspoiled seclusion found nowhere else on South Africa's length of Indian Ocean coastline. This coast is indeed wild, where the green shrubs of the inland vegetation burst to move across the shifting sands, and lagoons and river mouths are the place of birds, not passenger liners, and where shells still carry the sound of the sea if listened to closely. Port Edward and Port St. Johns are ideal bases from which to explore this coastline, and the reserves of Dwesa, Silaka and Hluleka are celebrations of the fact that nature, particularly this nature, cannot be tamed.

The Nature
The Eastern Cape is justifiably famous for a number of other game reserves. The great herds of Knysna Forest elephants were almost totally eradicated at the turn of this century, and yet, miraculously, the man most responsible for nearly wiping out an entire sub-species, had a dramatic change of heart and spent the balance of his life fighting for a safe haven for these rare and wonderful animals. Addo National Park is the result. Not far away, the Mountain Zebra Park saw almost exactly the same thing happen to the rare mountain zebra. Shot to the brink of extinction, in the 1930s this rare sub-species struggled to come back. Today, there are over 200 in the park, which is not far from Port Elizabeth.

The Garden Route
Stop at Cape St Francis and Jeffreys Bay. Turn inland and visit an ostrich farm at Oudshoorn, or explore the giant Cango Caves nearby. Enjoy the arid semi-desert of the Great Karoo, before heading back to the coast. Stop at Knysna Lagoon to sail or swim. Leap through the giant waves at the Wilderness that pound the white sand beaches. Try surf fishing. Or golf at any of the many courses that dot the Route. Stay at the hot springs in Montague. Visit a wine farm at Robertson or Stellenbosch, or an apple farm in Elgin. Loiter for a few days at a rented fisherman's cottage at Arniston or Hermanus. This enchanting highway is world famous. A 500 mile stretch between Port Elizabeth and Cape Town, the road sometimes follows the coast, other times cutting inland, leaping across narrow gorges, spiraling over mountain passes, past lagoons and forests and wheat fields. This enchanting highway is justifiably world famous. A 500 mile stretch between Port Elizabeth and Cape Town, the road sometimes follows the coast, other times cutting inland, leaping across narrow gorges, spiraling over mountain passes, past lagoons and forests and wheat fields. Allow 2 - 3 days to drive it. The road is paved and excellent quality. Expect to drive at 60-80 mph. Stop at Cape St Francis and Jeffries Bay  (remember the movie Endless Summer? Remember 'the perfect wave'? That was at Cape St Francis.) Turn inland and visit an ostrich farm at Oudshoorn, or explore the giant Cango Caves nearby. Enjoy the arid semi-desert of the Great Karoo, before heading back to the coast. Stop at Knysna Lagoon to sail or swim. Leap through the giant waves at the Wilderness that pound the white sand beaches. Try surf fishing. Or golf at any of the many courses that dot the Route. Stay at the hot springs in Montague. Visit a wine farm at Robertson or Stellenbosch, or an apple farm in Elgin. Loiter for a few days at a rented fisherman's cottage at Arniston or Hermanus.