Eastern Cape

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow

We left Natal slightly worse for wear after a lot of wine and headed for the notorious Wild Coast. We had many warnings about this area, but a lot of recommendations to visit it as well. Driving through is fairly interesting; the road has potholes, people and animals sharing it with you in equally large numbers. The hills around are green and full of brightly coloured rondavals and Xhosa villages. We drove the longest possible route (as there is no coastal road) to Port St Johns, a village where river meets ocean. We booked into a cottage and explored the town, including the 9 hole golf course and the first and second beaches. Unfortunately the weather was fairly dismal, so we had a relaxing afternoon before eating an excellent dinner. The next morning we eshewed the golf as the weather was too awful and instead had a huge breakfast to fortify us for the journey to Cintsa, further down the coast. The road was slightly improved and we made good time. We booked into a cottage with a lovely view and went to walk along the beach, seeing a monster crab on the way. Unfortunately, once again the weather turned so the afternoon and evening was whiled away. The next day we headed inland, in search of sun. We stopped in the university town of Grahamstown for a coffee and lunch before heading towards Addo Elephant National Park. We stopped in a place called Colchester and stayed in a chalet by a river looking at sand dunes on the other side. As the weather had cleared dramatically we went for a walk down to the ocean. In the setting sun we saw a whale playing about 100 metres off shore, and we had dinner in a local pub. The next day we set off for the National Park. The terrain is very green and wooded, so it does not offer the long range visibility of Kruger, but it means that animals emerge right in front of you. We saw herds of elephants and buffalos (among other, less numerous animals) that would pass right by the car as they walked down the road. We stayed in the park that night, having a BBQ of delicious meat from their shop, and were waiting to go out when the gate opened at 6 the next morning. We were rewarded by seeing jackals, a spotted hyena and several tortoises. We then went to Port Elizabeth to start our journey down the Garden Route . . . E