MZANZI ISSUE 16

Summer Travel
George was first settled by woodcutters when the timber
industry flourished here. In 1911 Bishop Sidwell, the First
Bishop of George, was enthroned, giving George its status as
Cathedral City. The building of the Montagu Pass, which started
in 1844, connected the town to the interior. The pass was
later supplemented by a railway line built over the Outeniqua
Mountain which separates the town from the interior.
There are a number of gold courses and golf estates in and
around George, all designed by world-famous golfers like Gary
Player and Ernie Els, of which the best-known is probably
Fancourt. George also gives visitors access to a number of
excellent hikes in the mountains and forests and along the
coast. While the town itself is set back some distance from
the sea, satellite resort villages like Herald’s Bay, Victoria Bay
and The Wilderness are excellent for swimming, surfing and
angling and have camping and lodge and hotel facilities.
George has many historical sites and interesting attractions
like the Slave Tree in York Street, the old Toll House, several
churches, the old Drostdy now housing the museum, a
transport museum, and much more. Outdoor activities to be
enjoyed in and around George include abseiling, canyoning,
caving at Oudtshoorn’s Cango Caves, sandboarding, surfing,
diving, deep-sea fishing, paragliding, quad biking, 4X4 trails,
and mountain biking. George also lies at the start of the Lakes
District that comprises several interconnected lakes all the
way to the Knysna Lagoon.
• For more information: Mossel Bay Tourism tel +27(0)44
691 2202, website www.visitmosselbay.co.zaor email
info@visitmosselbay.co.za; George Tourism tel +27
(0)44 801 9299 or email membership@george.org.za or
website www.georgetourism.org.za.
Port Elizabeth
The harbour city of Port Elizabeth, together with Uitenhage,
Despatch and Colchester make up the Nelson Mandela Bay
Metro. It is the largest city in the Eastern Cape with a population
of more than 1.3 million people, is a major seaport and is the
southernmost large city on the African continent.
The city was founded in the early 19th century by the Dutch
government of the Cape Colony. In 1820, by then under British
rule, some 4,000 British colonists were settled here in order
to strengthen the border region between the Cape Colony and
the Xhosa region which at the time was a point of conflict and
the scene of several frontier wars. Sir Rufane Shaw Donkin, the
Acting Governor of the Cape Colony, named the small frontier
town Port Elizabeth after his late wife in 1820.
Today the city is major transport, commercial and industrial
hub as well as a favourite holiday destination for thousands
of South Africans each year and a large number of visitors
from overseas. There are two major harbours here; the old
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