It will be smooth sailing in more ways than one for thousands of holidaymakers travelling to popular Eastern Cape destinations this festive season.
The completion of major road projects by the South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) has ensured families and groups of friends will enjoy a safe and seamless journey to seaside towns such as Chintsa, Jeffreys Bay, Hamburg, St Francis Bay and Port St Johns.
In addition, those travelling from Cape Town to Durban through the province will encounter a road network that makes drive time a pleasure.
The Eastern Cape is known as South Africa’s “adventure province” for good reason, particularly this year. The Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency’s Summer Bucket List 2024 is packed with activities and events for everyone – including those who love living on the edge.
The Tsitsikamma Canopy Tour is the first of its kind in Africa, offering thrill-seekers a zipline experience through treetops 30 metres above the forest floor. The same area is home to an award-winning kayak and lilo adventure where paddlers move from the ocean into the magnificent Storms River Gorge.
Heading towards Gqeberha, oceanside horseback rides at Jeffreys Bay, also internationally renowned as a surfing mecca, always prove a hit with inland visitors. The trail leads through swathes of fynbos and coastal vegetation and along a 6km stretch of deserted beach.
The Kouga region, home to Jeffreys Bay, also offers deep-sea fishing charters, surf fishing and freshwater fishing at the Pabala Private Nature Reserve as well as fishing charters on the Gamtoos River.
SANRAL has recognised the growing importance of Kouga as a sought-after tourist destination and has accordingly gone to great lengths to improve road infrastructure in the region. The national roads agency has invested heavily in a special road maintenance project on the N2 between Nelson Mandela Bay and Kouga and recently completed work on the Gamtoos to Van Stadens River portion of the highway.
The project, valued at some R200 million, included resurfacing a 19km stretch of road and repairing pavements. This section of road has become almost unrecognisable to regular users, who now enjoy a soft under-tyre drive as they travel through picturesque countryside that also offers passengers idyllic ocean views.
For those journeying to Jeffreys Bay, St Francis Bay, Port St Francis and Storms River for Christmas and New Year, the resurfaced road is a gift very much in keeping with the spirit of the season.
As is the case each year, thousands will flock to Gqeberha over Christmas, and they, too, will benefit significantly from the improvements to the N2.
The city’s beaches, many of which carry Blue Flag status, have become famous among sun worshippers, while the 18-hole courses at Humewood and Port Elizabeth golf clubs are vital stopovers for fans of the sport.
Of course, no trip to Nelson Mandela Bay and the neighbouring Sundays River Valley would be complete without a visit to Addo Elephant National Park. This is the only park in the world that is home to the Big 7 – leopard, lion, buffalo, Great White shark, rhino, elephant and Southern Right whale. It also boasts the largest density of African elephants on the planet.
SANRAL has been highly active in the Sundays River Valley, and motorists travelling to and through the area are taking full advantage of ongoing improvements to the R335 and R336 roads that meander through the quaint citrus towns of Addo and Kirkwood.
Holidaymakers heading east of the Fish River to East London, the Wild Coast and beyond will also welcome SANRAL’s completion of the R500m upgrade of the N2 section between Qonce and the Green River.
Motorists travelling along the N2 between Qonce and Ngqushwa will now benefit from a far safer and congestion-free road.
Included in the scope of works were extensive road widening, construction of the Tshoxa 1 bridge, the Tshoxa 2 bridge over the Tshoxa River, a new wider bridge over the Buffalo River, a cattle underpass and pedestrian walkways.
Visitors to East London this summer will not want to miss out on the Bat’s Cave Trail in the Nahoon Point Nature Reserve, which leads along a recycled plastic boardwalk that weaves through the nature reserve to the beach below.
Further afield on the Wild Coast, Port St Johns remains a must on any traveller’s bucket list.
Lying at the mouth of the Mzimvubu River, which flows through the Gates of St John gorge into an estuary on the Indian Ocean, PSJ, as it is known locally, boasts spectacular tropical scenery and a variety of hikes, taking in the beautiful Bulolo Waterfall, Isinuka Mud Caves, and the Gap and Blowhole.
Another significant milestone achieved by SANRAL ahead of the festive season is the opening of the N2 Belstone Interchange and route MR0688 linking Bhisho to Zwelitsha. The 33-month project, valued at R438m, was completed in July.
Mbulelo Peterson, SANRAL’s Southern Regional Manager, said the upgrades would result in improved management of traffic flow from Bhisho, Breidbach, Zwelitsha and East London, and improved safety for pedestrians and other non-motorised road users.
These are only some of the road infrastructure improvements travellers can look forward to in the coming weeks. Significantly, there will be even more this time next year.
SANRAL announced in September that it had awarded more than R5 billion in road infrastructure projects to the Eastern Cape during the 2024/25 financial year.
