Port Elizabeth, gateway to the Eastern Cape, is set to become a major tourist destination as it hones its facilities to attract a larger slice of the tourist market - both domestic and international.
PE, as the city is known nationwide, has long played second fiddle to Cape Town and Durban as a popular seaside resort. Now that the industry has recognised PE's importance (the Coega project has already attracted many other investors) the authorities have seized the initiative to market its enormous appeal on all fronts.
Punted as the friendly city, it is just that: a place where everyone is made to feel welcome.
It played a major role in South African history for it was here that the 1820 Settlers landed. It is also where many retreated when caught in the crossfire between the Xhosa and British forces during the frontier struggle.
From an historical perspective, it makes it the ideal base from which to explore the battlefields and cultural sites. However, visitors more interested in relaxing on a beach and having fun will find much to do as well.
For folk unfamiliar with the friendly city , here are some of the facilities in and around PE:
- Port Elizabeth has its own Jurassic Park. The prehistoric world is coming to life again at the new Dino Park, thanks to palaeontology enthusiast Marvin Carstens. The park, complete with giant replica robotic prehistoric animals, is the city's latest tourism attraction and will be open to the public towards the end of the year.
Carstens, a former Bayworld and Wits University employee, has already recreated 13 beasts - from an outsized cockroach to a mammoth sharktooth dinosaur.
He has completed the framework for a family of smaller dinosaurs, the dryosaurus whose fossilised remains have been found throughout the Eastern Cape.
- Another project is the recreation of a massive prehistoric crocodile weighing some 10 160kg and measuring up to 14m in length, whose fossilised remains were recently found in North Africa.
The price for a visit to the park will be R5 a child and R10 a adult.
For more information, call 041-379-4201.
- The revamped Apple Express steam train has been relaunched in Port Elizabeth, with the highlight being the unveiling of the newly refurbished Garret engine.
The Apple Express is a unique, narrow, gauge steam engine which takes visitors from Port Elizabeth over the massive Van Staden's Bridge to Thornhill.
- The Bayworld Museum Complex houses the PE Museum, the Oceanarium (where the dolphin and seal performances are a national attraction) and the Snake Park, which supplies anti-venom for use throughout South Africa.
- Number 7 Castle Hill is one of the oldest surviving settler houses in PE. Built in 1827, it is an historical museum which has been carefully restored.
- The PPC Nukakamma Canoe Trail, a two-day flat-water canoe trail on the Sundays River outside Port Elizabeth, has earned official accreditation from the South African Trail Owners Association and Hiking SA, as having canoe trail facilities in a natural to pristine environment with standard to luxurious accommodation.
The trail is on the Sundays River. It starts and ends in Cannonville, a town about 36km from Port Elizabeth off the northbound N2 The trail's upriver the overnight facility, Hudson, is a distance of 14,5km and can be easy, moderate or difficult, depending on the prevailing weather conditions and the tide.
The abundance of bird life in the area adds to the natural splendour, says Bob Richards, who owns and manages the trail. Only 4-metre, double canoes are used on each trail, with a maximum of 12 people on the water at any one time.
- Dutch citizen Adelheid Peltenburg has opened in February an "artists' paradise" near Jeffrey's Bay. This tourist centre, where creative courses such as landscape painting, sculpturing, wood carving, African art, African dance and photography will be presented, is a R4,5-million investment that has created eight jobs.
The courses will be mainly given by South African artists to tourists from countries like Holland, Belgium, Germany and Britain so that they can experience the beauty of South Africa through art.
For more information contact Martin Kuchler: [email protected] or 043-704-5600.
For folks who would like to explore the Eastern Cape, here are some places to consider:
- East London's Mpongo Park has been re-opened after being bought by a private consortium for R3,5-million last year.
The new facilities include two conference centres and a luxury lodge with six en-suite bedrooms, a lounge and a boardroom.
- East London's mysterious Castle, once owned by the equally mysterious Jean Baptiste Soffiantini, is to become an extremely upmarket bed and breakfast.
- A lion park is soon to open on Baptiste's farm 10km outside East London on the N6 to Stutterheim. Fifteen lions - eight adults and seven cubs - are already roaming the premises in giant enclosures.
- Plans for the launch of the Sunshine beach hiking trails are well underway.
They were developed by Chris de Wet Steyn and his dad Justin who not only walked the trail, but produced brochures for tourists.
They offer visitors the option of five nights in either direction. Port Alfred to Hamburg (Three Sisters Trail) or Port Alfred to Woody Cape (Dias Cross Trail). The hikes are all inclusive and include accommodation in wonderful cottages and homes along the way.
They also include all meals, horse rides, booze cruises, canoe trips. The hikers do not have to carry their bags. These will be transported to the overnight stops, as part of the service.
- Jonathan Bishop, Shamwari Game Reserve executive, unveiled an ambitious plan to reinvent the decaying railway junction town of Alicedale as a thriving international tourism village. It will include agriculture, tourism and light industry. The plan revolves around a multi-faceted tourism village, situated on the border of the Shamwari reserve and will include an international wildlife school, a safari centre, country hotel, 18-hole golf course, cultural village, game sale boma and a tourism training centre.
- This article was originally published on page 11 of The Star on August 12, 2003