Port Elizabeth, named for a lost love. (Port Elizabeth)

Member Name: 2Quizzy

Product:	Port Elizabeth
Date:	14/11/03 (439 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots to see, Lots to do, Beautiful

Disadvantages: Crime in South Africa is high so be careful and alert

Just like the Taj Mahal, Port Elizabeth is home to a memorial built by a grieving widower for his beloved lost wife. The city is even named after her, Elizabeth Donkin, but she actually never was to set foot on this wild African shore. She died in India from a fever just before her husband's promotion to Acting Governor of the Eastern Cape came through.

Sir Rufane Donkin's first act as Acting Governor was to name the little settlement on this beautiful African shore after his beloved wife. He declared the hillside above the Bay open parkland in perpetuity and built a stone pyramid at the summit as a monument to his darling Elizabeth.

A trip to this site, known as the Donkin Reserve, is a must if you visit Port Elizabeth. The pyramid may not be as splendid as the Taj Mahal, but the words of dedication and love on the plaque are as tender and full of loss as any expressed in the Taj Mahal's grandeur.

The view of the bay and Port Elizabeth itself is quite stunning. From here you can turn 360 degrees and preview almost everything this city, with it's population of roughly 1,5 million people, has to offer.

Below you lie the Campanile, the bay itself, the main beachfront and the heart of the original city. The museum, tropical house, aquarium and Dolphinarium, The Boardwalk with it's Casino and vast entertainment centre, the funfair, Happy Valley Park and Humewood beach.

To your left out along the main motorway lies Bluewater Bay and further inland the famous Addo Elephant Park, Bayethe Game reserve, Shamwari, Port Alfred and the Fish River Sun Resort.

To the right the road passes out and back North along the coast to Seaview lion park and then on to Jeffrey's Bay, the incredible Storm River gorge, Tsitsikamma National Forest, the Big Tree and the Garden Route.

Behind you lies the new city with three major shopping malls, the Horse Memorial, Golf course and beyond the vast wild K
aroo
with it?s quaint little towns and desolate expanses.

<b
r>How to get there

From the UK you will need two flights. First to Johannesburg and then a shorter hop to Port Elizabeth. I'd recommend hiring a car once there as this area has too much to be seen in bus tours. There is a British Embassy in Port Elizabeth that answers all phone calls and is helpful and friendly.

Money

South African currency is Rands and cents. At the time we were there the exchange rate had been R17 to a pound. It has been as high as R18, but now is roughly R14 to a pound. I am therefore leaving prices in Rand as the exchange rate does vary and won't give you a correct figure.

The people

The original people of this area were Khoisan (Bushmen) then the Xhosa and finally the Dutch, British, German and more. Afrikaans and Xhosa are widely spoken, but it's rare you'll find anyone who doesn't speak English as well. Road signs are still mostly bilingual or alternating English/Afrikaans. My Scottish husband found this confusing and I found his pronunciations and ideas of what he thought the signs said totally hysterical. (Don't worry, he got his own revenge later by getting me to read Gaelic words)

Where to stay

The list is endless. Port Elizabeth has everything from ultra-luxury hotels to cheap self-catering family holiday flats. Bed and Breakfasts are everywhere and most have websites online so you can do all your questioning and booking via email. The most novel holiday accommodation has got to be the Caboose holiday flats. These are built up a high wooden platform. The entire structure is wood and the rooms are designed like old-fashioned steam train caboose apartments. The "rooms" are en-suite with TV and coffee/tea making facilities, but the rest of the facilities are communal. These include TV lounge, pub and games room, area with microwaves and vending machines, outdoor
patio wi
th Barbecues ("Braai" in South Africa) and swimming pool. Secure parking and breakfasts are part of the package. The Caboose is very popular with backpackers and young families. Prices range from R270 single to R400 for a family of three per night. At the recent exchange rate that works out to roughly 19 to 29 pounds.

Bed and Breakfasts are excellent. We stayed in one in the Western seaside suburb of Summerstrand. It was R450 per night for two. For this we got a cottage in the house grounds with it's own private entrance. We had TV, Video, full huge bathroom, small kitchen with all needed equipment including a toaster and microwave. Double bed, small lounge/dining area with patio door and the use of a large pool and private garden with braai area. We went for self-catering as we preferred our freedom. From this base we were able to visit and view every single attraction I listed in my opening paragraphs here. There was safe enclosed parking at night on the premises and good security. If you are choosing a place via the internet I'd strongly recommend choosing places that show photos so you have a fair idea what you are getting for your money.

From our cottage we were within walking distance of a small grocery shop and a block further there was a small shopping mall complete with video store, American style steak house restaurant and a Pizza take away. A block more along the beachfront and we had a large supermarket and two Chinese take aways. Add another block and we were in the main area of the beachfront with a choice of about 12 places to eat at the Boardwalk alone.

Places to see, Things to do

I'll go back to my spot at the Donkin reserve and list by each of the four directions. Oh, the lighthouse on the Donkin reserve is also open to the public if you want an extra high viewpoint!

First of all: get yourself a good map of the city and the surrounding countryside. The Nelson Mande
la Bay Tourism
's Tourist Information Office in the Lighthouse Building on Belmont Terrace, Central Hill is open 7 days a week and offers maps and brochures of all tours in and around the city as well as directions to all places of interest. Most hotels and B n Bs keep maps available too and you can also buy them at any CNA (Central New Agency book shop chain). You will need this as Port Elizabeth has a motorway reminiscent of a bowl of tangled spaghetti. One false move and you?ll find yourselves miles down the road looking for the next turn of. Our first day in PE, as the locals call it, was mostly spent back tracking to where we SHOULD have turned. The Eastern Cape is a malaria free zone so you have no worries hiking and viewing game parks in the area.

South

The old city centre still has some hidden treasures, but it's a sad area now. Most of the upmarket shops moved out years ago and many of the old centre's Victorian buildings are in a state of disrepair. Added to this some idiot of a town planner built the motorway off-ramps and fly-overs OVER the old city centre so some buildings never get the sun anymore. You can glance down as you leave the motorway and see quaint little Victorian shops tucked away down below in perpetual shadow.

I'd be careful in this area and rather not travel through it at night. Go sight-seeing here during work hours.

Things worth seeing: The monument located behind the City Hall, in Fleming Square, dedicated to the mythical king-priest, Prester John, and the Portuguese explorers who discovered South Africa.

The Campanile bell tower, built in 1923 to commemorate the landing of the 1820 Settlers. It is open to the public and possible to climb the 204 stairs and view the Bay from the top.

Along the beachfront going South west you will pass the funfair and Humewood beach with it's park and play areas. There is a big arts and craft market held every Saturday
at Humewood. Locals
artists and crafters and African curios from more Northern African countries are on offer and the prices are fair.

Further out a bit more and you come to the Bay world Oceanarium. This vast building enclosure also houses the museum, Dolphinarium, snake park and tropical house.
You can buy tickets just for the Dolphin separately or get a ticket for all the attractions in one. This actually works out as a bargain and it's worth it. The dolphin shows are excellent and comes with a unique performer. Queen of the city, Dolly. The oldest dolphin born in captivity. This remarkable lady surprised everyone by suddenly producing a female calf in 2000 at the ripe age of 32. When we were there we had the privilege of watching mother Dolly , father Domino and baby Thunzi play ball together. Tragically Thunzi was found dead in early September this year. There was a break in and it's uncertain if her death was accidental or related to the break in. The oceanarium no longer takes wild dolphins into captivity so the cast is now down to just Dolly and Domino. Little Thunzi was remarkable. Like her mum, both vibrant intelligent creatures full of fun and mischief. Thunzi's death is a great loss and tragedy to everyone.

Otherwise the oceanarium with it's display tanks of tropical fish are fascinating. The museum has been renovated and has lots of new displays as does the snake park. There are shows where live poisonous snakes are shown to the public and basic lessons safety, differences for identification, feeding habits etc explained. The tropical house was closed for renovations when we were there. The last time I was in it was in the late 70s and as a kid I thought it was smashing. waterfalls and tropical plants under a huge glass dome with all sorts of weird and wonderful live animals hidden in the undergrowth, including crocodiles in the main pool!

Further out and you come to the Boardwalk complex. You can
't miss it. It's
huge and impressive. There is free parking on the beach side of the road or security prot
ected pay parking at the back of the complex. We parked up front and had no problems day or night as the area is very popular and always busy.

The entrance to the Boardwalk is a big archway that holds a tourist information shop and bank teller machines. Just beyond on the left are restaurants and shops. On the right is a man-made waterway with an oriental bridge that leads to a Chinese "temple" which holds three Asian restaurants and is decorated in front by ornamental ponds full of Koi. We had dinner at the Chinese restaurant in the main building one evening. The prices were expensive, but the servings were big. I'd suggest buying and sharing as you?ll never get through a "meal" by yourself.

Beyond this area there is an ornamental lake with bridges, waterfalls and gardens. The casino and hotel are at the far end. There?s a stunning fountain with leaping dolphin in front of the foyer. The bar in the Casino has live music on Friday nights. It was more loud than melodic and we weren't impressed. Casinos always depress me anyway. All those desperate people trying to win money. No one ever smiles or looks like they're having fun. To the left of the casino there is a go-cart track, miniature golf and a small children's funfair. The golf has some cute gimmicks like a pirate shipwreck you have to play through etc.

The shops included all sorts of curios and luxuries. You can buy ostrich leather products from clothing to handbags and luggage here as well as mohair garments and blankets. The one restaurant is also a market selling fresh local fish and other produce. There is every type of food from Greek and Italian to hamburgers and sushi on offer here. It's not cheap, but the quality is excellent and if you're a tourist the exchange rate makes things far more acceptably priced.
There is also a cinema compl
ex and night-clubs here so there really is something for everyone and on a weekend night the place is packed.

East

Once you're on the motorway going East your first turn off is Blue water Bay. Once a sleepy seaside beach and caravan park this is now a highly sought after area to live and has grown in bounds. I haven't been there in years, but remember the beach as very pretty.

Heading onwards and inland lie the three main game reserves of Addo Elephant Park, Bayethe and Shamwari. Bayethe offer night time tours and a lot of tourists go for a "joint" package of driving out to Addo in the morning, spending the day there and then having dinner and the night tour with Bayethe afterwards. Bayethe was a bit pricey at R450 per person so when we went out we just opted for Addo. Personally I think doing both in one day would be exhausting. It's 72 km to Addo and that's a long drive there and back. Shamwari lies further out. It is very posh and very expensive. This is the safari park Princess Diana was planning to take her sons at the time of her death. A trip here will set you back R750 per person a day, but you do get top of the range treatment and luxury food etc.

We set out at a lazy 9:00 am from Port Elizabeth and took an equally relaxed drive to reach Addo around midday. Take snacks and drinks with you for the drive as the places you pass through before Addo are few and extremely "rural". We stopped at one spot and bought pies from a take away that defied description. One bite and into the bin fast! One amusing note though. This tiny "dorp" (South Africa's version of a "one horse town") had an ancient dusty shop with a store front reading "MacDuck's, Maker's of exclusive tartan caps and deerstalkers"?!

Now back to Addo. The entry fee was R40 for us and the car. Inside the first area there is a shop, restauran
t and holiday chalets. The entranc
e is cheap, but the shop is horrific. A spool of film cost THREE times as much as it would normally. Clearly they are out to cream the tourists so take enough film with you.

Otherwise Addo is fantastic. The restaurant sells a good range from small affordable snacks to fancy meals and is licensed. It has an inside dining area and a large outdoor patio with wooden tables and chairs under umbrellas. We sat outside as it was a very hot day and the dining room was stuffy. You are given a map of the park and a check list of animals in the park with illustrations and descriptions as well as little boxes where you can number and tick off how many of each animal you see. The map was great, but we never used the tick list as we were too busy looking to be writing!

The map shows you that once you go through the security gate into the main park there are several routes through the park, most of them circular drives. This gives you the option to choose how long you want to take. Routes vary from 2km to 20.7 km! The roads are all dirt and quite rough. We bumped about a lot, but it was too exciting to get annoying. We went in a small hatchback and it coped, but we noticed a few days later that the screws holding the radio in the dashboard had loosened to the point of almost falling out. You are warned to keep your windows and doors closed and not to take oranges or citrus fruit into the park. Apparently elephants are exceptionally fond of oranges and can smell them quite clearly even in a closed car. DON'T take in oranges, your car and you will regret it.

Although I've lived in Africa all my life I'd never seen a real live elephant. We drove through 5 foot high bushes for about 15 minutes and my husband started muttering about where were all the elephants? We turned a corner.. and there they were STANDING IN THE ROAD. Big ones, small ones, baby ones. So close you could see the red sand on their skin.
They were all so sandy that they looke
d more like pink (brick reddish) elephants!

All in all we spent about three hours in Addo and we m
ust have seen about 30 elephants at least. They were everywhere we went and usually close to the road or on the road so photographs were a breeze. We also had to drive around a hartebeest having a snooze in the road. We saw warthogs, baboons, kudu, zebra, eland, buffalo, a HUGE tortoise (about two foot long) and an amazing variety of birds. It was brilliant and we only left when it started to get dark.

Otherwise going East of Port Elizabeth along the coast rather than inland you pass through many small holiday resorts with pure unspoilt beaches of fine pale gold sand going on forever. The central stop off spot between the two major cities of Port Elizabeth and East London is Port Alfred. Lying on the Kowie river, this was just a fishing/holiday village for decades, but recently it has become extremely fashionable and a marina for yachts, new houses and shops have sprouted up all over. It's has a lovely beach front with some interesting eating places and a small shopping mall with some nice local arts and crafts for sale. It's a favourite and highly fashionable holiday spot and it offers pretty much every water sport you can think of as well as horse-riding, angling and hiking. It has a webcam on the river so you can see for yourself what the area looks like http://www.port-alfred.co.za/

West

For a short trip west of port Elizabeth there?s the delightful Seaview Lion Park. If you want to make it a full day or more there are even more spectacular sites further along the Garden Route. If you have the money and time take a few days and drive the entire route to Cape Town. This route isn't called "Garden Route" for nothing. The views are spectacular and the entire coast is dotted with marvellous little places full of things to see and do. This is the biggest holiday
/tourist in South Africa and a favourite wit
h South Africans themselves.

Now back to Seaview. We found the park by accident one day out driving, but we did find later that our B and B and most holiday shops keep little maps and brochures on the park so finding it shouldn' be a problem. It lies about a half hour drive from Port Elizabeth. The park itself was cheap, only R20. There were big signs up by the entry gate to the lions warning you to keep your windows and doors shut, not to make loud noises and that entry was at your own risk. Actually the lions looked more bored than dangerous. I swear I almost heard the one saying "Oh hell, more tourists!" as we drove past him and his mates. It was a thrill though driving through lions. At one spot they were only six or so feet from us. Worth the charge which was only about R8.

From there you go through the small game park. The roads were not as rough as Addo and the drive only took about 30 min to an hour as the park is quite small. The scenery is completely different to Addo. Where Addo is typical "Africa" with the low thorn trees and big dry open plains Seaview is a coastal park set on hilly country and heavily covered in thick lush green bush and trees. Even so we managed to see giraffe up close, more zebra, wildebeest, monkeys, baboons and lots of buck species.

From there the road takes you to the tea-room before the exit. This is situated at the top of the hill and the view was stunning. A steep drop down from the car park and then rolling green farmland to the edge of the bright blue Indian Ocean. Glorious! It was raining the day we went. Soft fine warm summer rain. We stopped in at the tea-room and had tea and scones. The scones took a long time and we were starting to get annoyed. Then when they came to explain the delay all was forgiven. The cream was direct from the cattle on the adjacent farm and they were having to prepare and beat it as it had just
arrived. Have you ever tasted really really fresh
cream? Well this cream was mounded in a bowl the size of a large soup plate and came with huge farm scones as big as hamburger rolls and home made strawberry jam. I have never eaten cream as good as that cream. It was most definitely worth the wait.

The tea-room is charmingly unique. It's octagonal with windows at every angle overlooking the park and distant sea. The decorations were animal skulls and a display of skins and eggs and in the corner were cages with a few wild birds as this park is also a wildlife rehab and rescue. The wall was covered in photos of baby animals that the park has taken care of and set free as well as snaps of rescued animals and their stories.

By the time we finished the rain had stopped and we were able to go out and through the treetop walk. In front of the tea-room a wooden platform leads out onto a wooden walkway about 9 foot off the ground. You are literally walking at treetop level, which is a good thing as the young lion enclosure are the first animals you pass over and they could jump quite high. They were playing tag like a bunch of giant kittens and we stayed and watched them for ages. Beyond them were the rehab cages and also a small community of Meerkats as well as lynx and crocodiles and an assortment of rescued "pet" monkeys.

The next time we went west we took the entire day and left at 8:00am. We reached the Tsitsikamma national forest at lunchtime and so turned back from there to get back before dark. This route had more snack stop spots so you don't need to pack an emergency snack bag. The Tsitsikamma forest was interesting and very busy. It cost R40 to enter. The forest lies along the coast and it's a big hiking and camping area. There are lots of chalets and campers by the water's edge and parking was hard to find as so many people were there for the day hiking and picnicking. I found it a bit disappointing a
s the wildlife to be seen is the shy retiring type. Sm
all wild game, otters and dolphins are the park's claim to fame. I've seen dolphins better and closer from my old hometown so wasn't impressed. Never saw an otter as there were way too many people about.

The restaurant was al la carte as it was a Sunday. The choice of food was very good with lots of roast meats including game, but the prices were very high and we gave it a miss. The service was sloppy too. We sat and waited to get coffee for ages and finally left without being served.

On the way back we stopped at a small sign saying simply "BIG TREE". This turned out to be the best surprise of the day. You drive into the forest a few yards and park, pay a meagre R4 at a little wooden booth and then go along wooden walkways into the forest to see the Big Tree. Along the way every indigenous tree and plant has a marker and a write-up telling you the scientific details of the plant as well as folk-lore, traditional uses and origins of it's name. This is a temperate rainforest. One of very few in the world. Full of giant ferns and quite cool and mysterious.

The Big Tree is a yellow wood, an indigenous tree once prized for it's wood. It is now a protected species. The wood is hard and with very little grain and a soft butter colour. It made lovely furniture, but almost drove the trees to extinction. This tree is about 800 years old and stands 36m high. It takes 8 people holding hands to encircle the base. There's a wooden platform walkway all around it, which was nice. The day we went a busload of German tourists were there and they kindly offered to take our photo below the tree. You can't really get a decent photo of it as it's just too big and way too tall. A tall straight tree that reaches up and up and up. On the way back there was a display of photos of wildlife found in the forest and my husband was horrified to find we'd been hap
pily stomping about a forest full of leopards! He was the f
irst one back to the parking!

From there we stopped beside the storm River Bridge at the small complex of garage, resta
urant and shops. There we had a very nice lunch at a much better price than Tsitsikamma! The shops had the usual tourist curios including leopard and zebra print pith helmets! The jewellery was nice though. The restaurant is decorated with big black and white photographs of bridges. There were famous bridges from all over the world here including the Sky bridge and the Kessock bridge from Inverness.

Outside there is a huge wooden deck with tables and chairs as well as two wooden observation platforms where you can look down into the storm river gorge. The views are amazing, but if you aren?t afraid of heights and have the guts go out along the road and walk onto the bridge itself.

The Paul Sauer Bridge is a single span bridge and was built in the 1950s. It is 190m long, and 125,5m above the Storms River gorge. It is the highest cantilever bridge of its kind in the world. Think about this before crossing - HIGHEST of it's kind IN THE WORLD. From the centre I was too awed to be scared. Now I know what an eagle feels like. The gorge sides are extremely rugged and the drop takes your breath away. You can barely see the little river trickling away wedged between the huge jagged rocks at the base. My husband took consecutive photos and it took three lengthways pics pasted together to show the view from top to bottom.

North

Now we enter Port Elizabeth suburbs and the newer areas. North lie the shopping malls, the hospitals, airport and industrial areas as well as the golf course and the horse racing track. Here you?ll also find the horse memorial. One of only three memorials ever built to commemorate horses. The Horse Memorial is on the corner of Russell and Cape Roads and was erected and dedicated to the horses killed during the South A
frican War of 1899-1902.

From what I've seen big sh
opping malls are vaguely the same all over the world. There are three in Port Elizabeth. Greenacres is the oldest and biggest so far, but they keep building and adding on so this changes yearly. Greenacres was two malls that were connected by a third a few years back. It's big and it can get confusing inside if you don't check where you are. There are maps at intersections. The shops are mostly chain store type, boutiques, supermarkets and fast food restaurants. There was a fudge shop that sold 20 types of fudge that kept me mesmerised and there's a cinema complex here. We went and saw a movie there was really hot day to get out of the heat. The seats were comfy and the service was average to good cinema chain sort.

The shopping malls are similar and do get boring, but the book shops are worth a visit. They keep a huge range of books aimed at tourists from South African recipes and glossy wildlife books to history and biographies of famous South Africans such as Mandela. Note: as you reach the outer edges of the city the rural uniqueness of Africa starts being felt. We twice passed donkey carts on their way into town and once saw one "parked" at one of the outlying supermarkets.

Out and beyond Port Elizabeth lies the Karoo. There are day drives to inland towns but be aware that distances are vast here and it will basically take you about 4 hours to get anywhere. We drove out to Cradock as my mom stayed there as a kid and I'd always wanted to see the place. It used to be a Victorian convalescent town. They believed the dry mountain air was good for you. The drive out was very tiring. You go through mile after mile of dry wild African scenery and it starts to get boring. The temperatures were between 38 and 40 and by the time we reached Cradock all we wanted to do was have a cold drink and go home. It's a quaint town, but not worth the effort as far a
s I'm concerned. The only highlight of the day was on the way bac
k we drove for about an hour through masses of small white butterflies. There must have been millions of them in the wild flowers along th
e road. Oh... and we found a field of thistles, which amused my Scottish husband. But then when you consider that "Aberdeen" lies on the road to Graaf Reinet North West of Port Elizabeth the thistles might be less of a mystery! That day was the only dud of an otherwise perfect holiday.

There were still things we didn't to see or do. The Apple express Steam train trips, viewing the historical traditional houses in Port Elizabeth, the many Xhosa culture trips to spend the day learning more about Xhosa life, including entertainments such as dancing, visiting a "shebeen" (place selling alcohol rather like a pub) and eating traditional food. I'd recommend Port Elizabeth anytime and I'd certainly go back on holiday there myself.

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