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About Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa
Port Elizabeth is South Africa’s second oldest city and also the commercial capital of the Eastern Cape.
The city is often shortened to PE with the nicknames, "The Friendly City" or "The Windy City". Port Elizabeth Stretches for 16km along Algoa Bay, and is one of the major seaports in South Africa.
PE now forms part of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality which has a population of over one million.
Location:
Port Elizabeth is situated on the East Coast of South Africa in Easern Cape, just a 1½ hour flight from Johannesburg and 2 hours from Cape Town.
View Map of South Africa below:
Climate:
Port Elizabeth experiences hotter and drier conditions but rainfall tends to be distributed throughtout the year.
View more detailed climate data for Port Elizabeth according to the South African Weather Service.
Attractions around Port Elizabeth:
- Entertainment World - Entertainment World was designed to meet the entertainment needs of visitors and local residents. It is a versatile center that hosts both exclusively adult entertainment, and entertainment venues that are more family friendly.
- Bayworld Complex - Bayworld Museum - The Bayworld Complex hosts four major attractions that every visitor of Port Elizabeth. First the Bayworld Museum provides tourists with a combination of natural and cultural experiences. It hosts displays and exhibits that will entertain and educate.
- Bayworld Oceanarium - Being an ocean-side city, Port Elizabeth has a wealth of marine wildlife at its doorstep. If you would like a close encounter with these local residents, go to the oceanarium at the Bayworld Complex. Here visitors can experience daily marine wildlife demonstrations and educational tours
- Bayworld Snake Park - If herpetology is your passion, try visiting the Snake Park inside the Bayworld Complex. Here you can meet and greet a menagerie of reptiles including tortoises, snakes, and crocodiles. You can even see the rare and endangered Madagascar Ground Boa.
- No 7 Castle Hill Museum - This museum is also located in the Bayworld Complex and is the oldest remaining Port Elizabeth settlement. Built in 1830, the settlement is still in remarkable condition.
- Sea View Lion Park - Here you can have a close encounter with the White Lions of Port Elizabeth. There are even opportunities for visitors to hold the lion cubs and get a photograph taken.
- Wildlife Experience Day Tour - This daily tour departs from Port Elizabeth at 1:00 p.m. and makes scheduled stops at Van Stadens Bridge, the Lion Park, and a game farm. At the Lion Park you have the chance to interact with the white lion cubs, and at the game farm you can view the famous wildlife of South Africa including: zebra, giraffes, buffalo, wildebeests, lions, and rhinoceros.
- Cultural Day Tours - Cultural tours are offered in a variety of languages including: English, Dutch, German, and French. Here you will tour the township of Port Elizabeth and learn about the cultures that influenced the development of the township, and enjoy the social delights provided by local flavor at the Shebeen.
- Tsitsikamma National Park - Be sure to leave time to visit the Tsitsikamma National Park. This is a national treasure of natural wonders. The name means “the place of running water” and is home to huge yellow wood trees, waterfalls, and breath taking ocean views.
Attractions outside of Port Elizabeth:
- Game Parks - "15 minutes from city center"
- Settlers Park - covering some 76 hectares - experience a walk on the "wild side"
- St Georges Park - "established in 1860 and covers more than 73 hectares"
- Port Elizabeth Beaches - Golden Sandy Beaches
Sporting Attractions:
- Canoeing - Canoeing trails on offer led by experienced guides. Experience still pools through to fast flowing rivers in unspoilt wilderness and experience nature first-hand. A number of packages on offer for the adventurous.
- Rubber Ducking - Popular watersport - enjot a thrill on the waves of the bay.
- Scuba Diving - World renowned diving sites in the protected warm waters of Algoa Bay. Beautiful reefs, ship-wrecks, fish and coral species. Reefs and pinnacles range from 10 - 30m. Visibility is especially good in the Cape Recife area. Dive packages available. Magnificent shore dives and snorkelling opportunities.
- Hiking - offers an unbeatable variety of walks and hikes within the city limits, along the coast and through the valleys. Trails are usually well-marked. For some trails you need to be accompanied by expert guides.
- Rugby - Home to the Eastern Province Rugby Union (founded in 1888) and the internationally recognised Telkom Park seating +/- 34000 spectators. This stadium is the only one in the world which has a locomotive steam train placed on top of its open stand overlooking the field - it is a bar/pub.
- Soccer - Regarded as "the game of the people". League matches are played most weekends between March and October. Venues include the Gelvandale Stadium, the Westbourne Oval, the Moore Dyke Playing Fields and the Gelvandale Playing Fields.
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