Addo Elephant National Park

The Xhosa people are as paradoxical as the ecosystem: They have maintained their tribal traditions perfectly without falling behind in terms of modernity. Xhosa villages have retained every miniscule detail of their ancestral culture, which is a gleeful and welcoming one. Their homesteads are awash with bright palettes and grins. Thornhill locals introduce their vacationing visitors to the traditional practices of circumcision rituals, marriage exchanges and ceremonial purification rites. The rock art of the ancient San tribe is considered to be an international treasure. Archaeological sites can be viewed in the highlands, with parks such as Kwande offering tours guided by historians. The Rhodes and Barkly based trips take visitors taking a holiday to The Eastern Cape Game Areas across meandering pathways in search of caves featuring Bushmen rituals and depictions.

Cheetah spotting may be thrilling but encounters with elephants demonstrate the remarkable intellect, gentle spirit and emotional relationships of these colossal creatures. Addo offers prime pachyderm viewing for your holiday in The Eastern Cape Game Areas. It also offers one of the homeliest hotels in The Eastern Cape Game Areas. Its landscape is an arid one knotted with thick, low lying bush. This can make for challenging game viewing, but elephants tower above the canopy, so herds are easily spotted. Waterholes are invitations that tinier and more predatory creatures find impossible to ignore. Species of every shape, shade and character gather at open water sources at dusk and dawn as if by clockwork. The reserve has been stretched to include 120 000 hectares featuring five biodomes, acres of marine reserve, islands and San rock art sites.  Every tier of luxury is offered by several hotels in The Eastern Cape Game Areas.

The Eastern Cape's territory transitions across six diverse biomes ranging from savannahs to forests. Endangered vynbos and aloes are set against the craggy rocks of the Wild Coast. Frontier Country is the wealthiest region in terms of wildlife. Its titanic herds are unrivalled, and packed into a compact region. The Karoo is a stark, dramatic biome. Its flat terrain only emphasizes its immensity by giving visitors a seemingly infinite vista that extends in every direction. These heartlands act as the muse for artists and writers in contemporary culture as well those who have already passed. The local Owl House is a concrete artistic wonderland that adds eeriness to this startling territory. Sculptures are laid out to create a stone garden of figures that lend a surreal atmosphere to the village. It is in these surrounds that the private Samara reserve acts as a luxurious oasis in the midst of a harsh mountainous amphitheatre.

Your holiday to The Eastern Cape Game Areas will be accompanied by weather that is decidedly friendly and sedate. The subtropical summers are sandwiched between rainy springs and autumns. The climate is splintered by the jagged terrain.

The variations in altitude and the bisecting escarpment allow those taking holidays to The Eastern Cape Game Areas the freedom to choose their preferred climate in every season. The Karoo is the only location tortured by extreme temperatures in mid summer. Other zones have their own climatological personalities, but all are temperate. 

Marine Winters

Most visitors seeking The Eastern Cape Game Areas hotels save coastal vacations for summer, but Port Alfred is a miniscule hamlet that comes alive during winter. Scuba Divers are in for a chilly treat when they dive at Fountain Rocks where ragged tooth sharks breed. Avid fishermen and foodies adore the bountiful conditions of March and August when crabs and crayfish are plentiful. Sibuya reserve is snuggled beside the river mouth, making it prime viewing grounds for birders. Fish eagles and kingfishers are only two of the 400 local bird species. Game drives take you directly to the Big Five, which can be viewed against the lush coastal forest.  Kareaga has an abundance of striped, horned and spotted creatures dotted across its 6000 hectares of marine habitat. It also offers one of the most luxurious Eastern Cape Game Region hotels.  Winter is the season for artistic expression, as the Grahamstown Festival kicks off its annual theatrical, artistic and film extravaganza. A short drive from Port Alfred takes you into the core of The Eastern Cape's cultural and academic hub.

Floral Kingdoms

The desolate brown Karoo landscape breaks out into a spectacular kaleidoscope of flowers during Spring Eastern Cape Game Areas holidays. Daisies, arum lilies and lachanalias burst into bloom, creating a thick orange, lilac and yellow carpet across the entire landscape between West Coast National Park and Nuwerus. The winter rains determine just how starkly the blooms will paint the Karoo. Barrydale is by far the most diminutive village in the region and offers one of the most eclectic hotels in The Eastern Cape Game Areas. Hiking trails wander through The Karoo Desert National Botanical Garden, and in August its jarringly shaped succulents are underlined by spectacular fields of Namaqualand daisies.

Comfortable Summers

East London is the comfiest region to take a summer holiday in The Eastern Cape Game Areas. Fondly nicknamed the Sunshine Coast, the temperatures at midday seldom rise above 28 degrees Celsius. The region is renowned for its lengthy daylight hours. East London is similarly moderate, and The Wild Coast's sea air and thickets keep the months between November and February comfortably cool. This is an adventurer's destination, offering adrenaline busting action for those in search of sheer cliffs to abseil down and the world's longest bungee jump. Historical wealth can be sought at Nelson Mandela's home town of Qunu. The life of this legend is given a closer look at the Nelson Mandela Museum.

Autumn Ambience

The wet season charges the atmosphere with a moody air that is awakened by the rough oceanic winds and storms of March and April. Make the most of the electric aura by taking your Eastern Cape Game Areas holiday at locations most potently affected by the weather. The Place of Thunder is an immense cliff with a gigantic hole eroded through its core. When the waves strike at a precise arch, this geological wonder becomes a tumultuous tidal spectacle. The crash of the surf can be heard from great distances. Tsitsikamma National Park's Autumn storms animate the rocky coast just as dramatically.