I Love Port Elizabeth because...

A couple of weeks ago I wrote I Love Port Elizabeth because... for SA Venues.com and today, just because its my birthday, I have decided to share it with you as well.  They sent me the standard format and questions which I filled in and returned to them.  Here it is:



Hi, I’m Jonker Fourie (known online as Firefly) from Port Elizabeth Daily Photo in Port Elizabeth.

Port Elizabeth IS BEST KNOWN FOR its friendly people, beau­ti­ful beaches and coast­line, game reserves on our door­step, diverse his­tory and unfor­tu­nately... the wind, which isn’t any­where as bad as people like to make it out to be.

GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN AT with a lion cub at Seaview Game and Lion Park or chee­tah at Kragga Kamma Game Park.

THE BEST sun­rise PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN AT Shark Rocks Pier or on the Donkin Reserve.

OTHER HAPPY SNAPS AT Sardinia Bay, Maitlands or around the his­toric build­ings on the Donkin Heritage Trail. Check out PE Daily Photo for lots of happy snaps ideas.

WHEN THE WEATHER'S GOOD, I LIKE TO head out to Addo Elephant National Park or Kragga Kamma Game Park for some game view­ing. Doing a short hik­ing trail is also a good idea.

WHEN THE WEATHER'S BAD, I LIKE TO browse the shops in Walmer Park or Greenacres Shopping Centres (at a lack of a bet­ter answer than stay in and play my son’s PS2).

I THINK THE BEST TIME OF YEAR TO VISIT IS in autumn (March to June), BECAUSE the weather is stun­ning and there is very little wind.

MY FAVOURITE BREAKFAST SPOT IS with my gas bottle and skot­tel at sun­rise on the beach­front teas­ing early morn­ing walk­ers with mouth water­ing smells. Otherwise on one of the wooden access board­walks on Lovers’ Lane across the road from the Protea Hotel Marine.

FOR LUNCH, I SUGGEST Sacramento Restaurant in Schoenmakerskop after a walk on the Sacramento Trail.

MY FAVOURITE RESTAURANT IS Farriagers Restaurant at the Kelway Hotel, TRY THE Wild Africa Cream and chocol­ate chip cheesecake.

BEST LATE NIGHT SNACK FROM my fridge but I don’t think the ladies at Weighless will approve me hav­ing a late night snack. Sorry, the Rugrats are still small and we don’t really get out late much. Saying the fridge beats say­ing the 24 hour Steers.

MY FAVOURITE ice cream SPOT IS the Red Windmill at Hobie Beach and walk­ing on the pier lick­ing away before it melts.

FOR A NIGHT OUT ON THE TOWN TRY one of the res­taur­ants and eat­er­ies in Richmond Hill.

IF YOU WANT TO MEET LOCALS, GO TO The Boardwalk Casino and Entertainment Complex on the beachfront.

Port Elizabeth’s BEST KEPT SECRET IS cruis­ing on the Sundays River Ferry and dis­em­bark­ing near the river mouth before climb­ing to the top of the sand dunes for a mag­ni­fi­cent view across Algoa Bay back towards the city.

MY FAVOURITE THING TO DO WITH FRIENDS IS to go and show them some­thing around town that they haven’t been to.

FOR SOME LIVE MUSIC, I LIKE TO GO TO a Centrestage music per­form­ance.

TO RELAX AND RESTORE MY SOUL, I LIKE TO take a stroll along one of the hik­ing trails (nat­ural or her­it­age) around town. I also like to explore the city’s his­toric cemeter­ies, but that’s just me.

IF YOU'RE FEELING ADVENTUROUS, TRY scuba diving one of the numer­ous dive sites around Algoa Bay or on the Wildside.

MY FAVOURITE DRIVE IS the Sunshine Saunter start­ing off along Marine Drive via Schoenmakerskop and Sardinia Bay to Maitland.

MY FAVOURITE farm SHOP IS the Nanaga Farmstall for its awe­some pies and roosterkoek.

MY FAVOURITE flower and bird WATCHING SPOT IS Van Stadens Wildflower Reserve or Fynbos Trail in Schoenies.

IF YOU'RE HERE IN early December, JOIN IN THE FUN AT the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium for the SA leg of the Rugby 7’s World Series or Ironman South Africa on the beach­front in April.

MY FAVOURITE MUSEUM IS the Port Elizabeth Museum at Bayworld. CHECK OUT THE dino­saur, ship­wreck and mar­ine exhibits.

MY FAVOURITE BUILDING IS the old Public Library, FOR ITS beau­ti­ful facade, interior with lots of good child­hood memor­ies and stained glass windows.

TRAVELLING WITH CHILDREN? A FUN OUTING IS vis­it­ing the SAMREC pen­guin rehab­il­it­a­tion centre at Cape Recife.

BEST CHEAP AND CHEERFUL OUTING IS climb­ing the ginorm­ous sand dune at Maitland River Mouth with a piece of hard­board or card­board and slid­ing back down.

WHEN MONEY'S NO OBJECT, I LIKE TO spend a relax­ing / romantic week­end at one of the private game reserves near Port Elizabeth *pop* — My bubble bursting.

THE MOST UNUSUAL THING I SEE HERE IS how sur­prised people are when they real­ise how much Port Elizabeth actu­ally has to offer visitors.

MY FAVOURITE WEEKEND GETAWAY IS out­side Port Elizabeth is camp­ing at Sleepy Hollow, but because PE is such an ideally situ­ated city, week­ends away from the city can also be taken in the Tsitsikamma, St Francis Bay, Jeffreys Bay, the Baviaanskloof, the Karoo, the Sunshine Coast or even in Hogsback.

WHEN I WANT TO GIVE BACK TO THE COMMUNITY, I donate blood. Ok, so I’m not as involved in the com­munity as I should be. A good option is to approach a local tour oper­ator and sup­port one of the town­ship causes that they are involved in.

I ♥ Port Elizabeth BECAUSE it may be a city with all the big city amen­it­ies, but its still a town at heart. PE may not have big “must see” attrac­tions but there are count­less places, museums, gal­ler­ies, nature reserves, beaches, his­toric attrac­tions and more to dis­cover and keep one busy for days at end.