Kwandwe Ecca

I went to school near Kwandwe, in a historic educational town called Grahamstown. The rolling hills of the Eastern Cape were always full of wildlife, we’d see kudu leaping from behind bushes while out on hikes. But the land was farmed, mainly for sheep, and the Eastern Cape wasn’t on the safari map at all.

Then South Africa opened up for tourism post-Apartheid, and this area was well located for tourists driving the Garden Route – Cape Town is on the western end, and the Eastern Cape on the eastern end, 500 miles away.

Kwandwe was created by visionaries who bought up loads of old farms, removed fence and restocked with wildlife. A patient and expensive exercise, but now the land is restored, it’s clear their vision was right on target. The wildlife is now well settled, and there’s a great variety, including all the Big 5 and sightings of many rare species like the aardvark.

On the downside, you might not feel this is the real Africa if you’re expecting a Serengeti landscape with acacias. This is more rolling hills interspersed with gorges and grasslands, with small thickets of bushes. Herd sizes are quite small.

I had a rather dramatic trip a few years ago when I had a seizure in the middle of the night. I didn’t know at the time that it was the first sign of a rare tumour, the same kind which took the life of Steve Jobs. The team at Ecca Lodge were amazing and bundled me and my partner at the time Alan into a Land Rover and drove us to Grahamstown to see the doctor at 2 am. He turned out to be my boarding school doctor, and I was well taken care of. We were back in bed before too long.

Despite all this drama, we had a wonderful time and felt right at home. Kwandwe is a great option for a first safari, and popular with families – malaria free, comfortable and homely camps, and a mild climate (although winter nights are cold). And it’s an easy drive or short charter flight from the city of Port Elizabeth.

Melton Manor and Uplands Homestead have converted farmhouses, which carry a gentle sense of their 1820 English settler history. Ecca, Fort House and eat Fish River Lodge is contemporary.

Kwandwe Great Fish River

I went to school near Kwandwe, in a historic educational town called Grahamstown. The rolling hills of the Eastern Cape were always full of wildlife, we’d see kudu leaping from behind bushes while out on hikes. But the land was farmed, mainly for sheep, and the Eastern Cape wasn’t on the safari map at all.

Then South Africa opened up for tourism post-Apartheid, and this area was well located for tourists driving the Garden Route – Cape Town is on the western end, and the Eastern Cape on the eastern end, 500 miles away.

Kwandwe was created by visionaries who bought up loads of old farms, removed fence and restocked with wildlife. A patient and expensive exercise, but now the land is restored, it’s clear their vision was right on target. The wildlife is now well settled, and there’s a great variety, including all the Big 5 and sightings of many rare species like the aardvark.

On the downside, you might not feel this is the real Africa if you’re expecting a Serengeti landscape with acacias. This is more rolling hills interspersed with gorges and grasslands, with small thickets of bushes. Herd sizes are quite small.

I had a rather dramatic trip a few years ago when I had a seizure in the middle of the night. I didn’t know at the time that it was the first sign of a rare tumour, the same kind which took the life of Steve Jobs. The team at Ecca Lodge were amazing and bundled me and my partner at the time Alan into a Land Rover and drove us to Grahamstown to see the doctor at 2 am. He turned out to be my boarding school doctor, and I was well taken care of. We were back in bed before too long.

Despite all this drama, we had a wonderful time and felt right at home. Kwandwe is a great option for a first safari, and popular with families – malaria free, comfortable and homely camps, and a mild climate (although winter nights are cold). And it’s an easy drive or short charter flight from the city of Port Elizabeth.

Melton Manor and Uplands Homestead have converted farmhouses, which carry a gentle sense of their 1820 English settler history. Ecca, Fort House and eat Fish River Lodge is contemporary.

Kwandwe Melton Manor

I went to school near Kwandwe, in a historic educational town called Grahamstown. The rolling hills of the Eastern Cape were always full of wildlife, we’d see kudu leaping from behind bushes while out on hikes.

But the land was farmed, mainly for sheep, and the Eastern Cape wasn’t on the safari map at all. Then South Africa opened up for tourism post-Apartheid, and this area was well located for tourists driving the Garden Route – Cape Town is on the western end, and the Eastern Cape on the eastern end, 500 miles away.

Kwandwe was created by visionaries who bought up loads of old farms, removed fence and restocked with wildlife. A patient and expensive exercise, but now the land is restored, it’s clear their vision was right on target. The wildlife is now well settled, and there’s a great variety, including all the Big 5 and sightings of many rare species like an aardvark. On the downside, you might not feel this is the real Africa if you’re expecting a Serengeti landscape with acacias. This is more rolling hills interspersed with gorges and grasslands, with small thickets of bushes. Herd sizes are quite small.

I had a rather dramatic trip a few years ago when I had a seizure in the middle of the night. I didn’t know at the time that it was the first sign of a rare tumour, the same kind which took the life of Steve Jobs. The team at Ecca Lodge were amazing and bundled me and my partner at the time Alan into a Land Rover and drove us to Grahamstown to see the doctor at 2 am. He turned out to be my boarding school doctor, and I was well taken care of. We were back in bed before too long.

Despite all this drama, we had a wonderful time and felt right at home. Kwandwe is a great option for a first safari, and popular with families – malaria free, comfortable and homely camps, and a mild climate (although winter nights are cold). And it’s an easy drive or short charter flight from the city of Port Elizabeth.

Melton Manor and Uplands Homestead have converted farmhouses, which carry a gentle sense of their 1820 English settler history. Ecca, Fort House and eat Fish River Lodge is contemporary.

Kwandwe Uplands Homestead

I went to school near Kwandwe, in a historic educational town called Grahamstown. The rolling hills of the Eastern Cape were always full of wildlife, we’d see kudu leaping from behind bushes while out on hikes. But the land was farmed, mainly for sheep, and the Eastern Cape wasn’t on the safari map at all.

Then South Africa opened up for tourism post Apartheid, and this area was well located for tourists driving the Garden Route – Cape Town is on the western end, and the Eastern Cape on the eastern end, 500 miles away.

Kwandwe was created by visionaries who bought up loads of old farms, removed fence and restocked with wildlife. A patient and expensive exercise, but now the land is restored, it’s clear their vision was right on target. The wildlife is now well settled, and there’s a great variety, including all the Big 5 and sightings of many rare species like the aardvark.

On the downside, you might not feel this is the real Africa if you’re expecting a Serengeti landscape with acacias. This is more rolling hills interspersed with gorges and grasslands, with small thickets of bushes. Herd sizes are quite small.

I had a rather dramatic trip a few years ago when I had a seizure in the middle of the night. I didn’t know at the time that it was the first sign of a rare tumour, the same kind which took the life of Steve Jobs. The team at Ecca Lodge were amazing and bundled me and my partner at the time Alan into a Land Rover and drove us to Grahamstown to see the doctor at 2 am. He turned out to be my boarding school doctor, and I was well taken care of. We were back in bed before too long.

Despite all this drama, we had a wonderful time and felt right at home. Kwandwe is a great option for a first safari, and popular with families – malaria free, comfortable and homely camps, and a mild climate (although winter nights are cold). And it’s an easy drive or short charter flight from the city of Port Elizabeth.

Melton Manor and Uplands Homestead have converted farmhouses, which carry a gentle sense of their 1820 English settler history. Ecca, Fort House and eat Fish River Lodge is contemporary.

Samara Manor

Samara is far from the main other Eastern Cape reserves, which are closer to the coast – this is about a 3-hour drive from Port Elizabeth into the dry semi=desert Karoo. But it’s a rewarding choice as it’s unusual landscape supports an array of fascinating creatures.

It’s the only place I’ve ever seen an aardvark, the long-eared anteaters which people who’ve lived in the bush their entire lives seldom see.

They also have rare black rhino, which we tracked on foot, cheetah which enjoys those big open plains, the endangered mountain zebra, and black wildebeest, more handsome than their common blue cousins. It’s not Big 5, but the relative lack of dangerous game makes it great for walking. Because it’s malaria-free, it’s a good option with kids.

And the landscape is just magnificent, jaw-droppingly so. The camps are in the lower section, typical Karoo plains with small bushes and grasses. Behind, dramatic mountains rise covered in thickets, and after a pretty hard drive on the land rover to get up to the top, you’re rewarded with gentle grassland, a completely separate ecosystem supporting different wildlife. It’s chilly up there and often snows in winter – a very special place far removed from the rest of the world.

Karoo Lodge is a converted Karoo farmhouse surrounded by lawns, which is quite charming but could do with refurbishing. I prefer the rooms which are separate to the main house. The Manor is more cleanly decorated and elegant, but that’s an exclusive use villa, perfect for a larger family traveling together.

And if you go, I do advise spending a night in Graaff-Reinet, the beautifully restored historic town nearby, and have sundowners up on the mountains in the national park a few minutes from town, and dine at Polka.

Kwandwe Fort House

I went to school near Kwandwe, in a historic educational town called Grahamstown. The rolling hills of the Eastern Cape were always full of wildlife, we’d see kudu leaping from behind bushes while out on hikes. But the land was farmed, mainly for sheep, and the Eastern Cape wasn’t on the safari map at all.

Then South Africa opened up for tourism post-Apartheid, and this area was well located for tourists driving the Garden Route – Cape Town is on the western end, and the Eastern Cape on the eastern end, 500 miles away.

Kwandwe was created by visionaries who bought up loads of old farms, removed fence and restocked with wildlife. A patient and expensive exercise, but now the land is restored, it’s clear their vision was right on target. The wildlife is now well settled, and there’s a great variety, including all the Big 5 and sightings of many rare species like the aardvark.

On the downside, you might not feel this is the real Africa if you’re expecting a Serengeti landscape with acacias. This is more rolling hills interspersed with gorges and grasslands, with small thickets of bushes. Herd sizes are quite small.

I had a rather dramatic trip a few years ago when I had a seizure in the middle of the night. I didn’t know at the time that it was the first sign of a rare tumour, the same kind which took the life of Steve Jobs. The team at Ecca Lodge were amazing and bundled me and my partner at the time Alan into a Land Rover and drove us to Grahamstown to see the doctor at 2 am. He turned out to be my boarding school doctor, and I was well taken care of. We were back in bed before too long.

Despite all this drama, we had a wonderful time and felt right at home. Kwandwe is a great option for a first safari, and popular with families – malaria free, comfortable and homely camps, and a mild climate (although winter nights are cold). And it’s an easy drive or short charter flight from the city of Port Elizabeth.

Melton Manor and Uplands Homestead have converted farmhouses, which carry a gentle sense of their 1820 English settler history. Ecca, Fort House and eat Fish River Lodge is contemporary.

Samara Karoo

Samara is far from the main other Eastern Cape reserves, which are closer to the coast – this is about a 3-hour drive from Port Elizabeth into the dry semi=desert Karoo. But it’s a rewarding choice as it’s unusual landscape supports an array of fascinating creatures. It’s the only place I’ve ever seen an aardvark, the long-eared anteaters which people who’ve lived in the bush their entire lives seldom see.

They also have rare black rhino, which we tracked on foot, a cheetah which enjoys those big open plains, the endangered mountain zebra, and black wildebeest, more handsome than their common blue cousins. It’s not Big 5, but the relative lack of dangerous game makes it great for walking. Because it’s malaria-free, it’s a good option with kids.

And the landscape is just magnificent, jaw-droppingly so. The camps are in the lower section, typical karoo plains with small bushes and grasses. Behind, dramatic mountains rise covered in thickets, and after a pretty hard drive on the land rover to get up to the top, you’re rewarded with gentle grassland, a completely separate ecosystem supporting different wildlife. It’s chilly up there and often snows in winter – a very special place far removed from the rest of the world.

Karoo Lodge is a converted karoo farmhouse surrounded by lawns, which is quite charming but could do with a refurb. I prefer the rooms which are separate to the main house. The Manor is more cleanly decorated and elegant, but that’s an exclusive use villa, perfect for a larger family traveling together.

And if you go, I do advise spending a night in Graaff-Reinet, the beautifully restored historic town nearby, and have sundowners up on the mountains in the national park a few minutes from town, and dine at Polka.