Eastern Cape region
Sarah Baartman
The province's largest district, running from the Tsitsikamma and Jeffreys Bay along the coast to Port Alfred, then inland through Makhanda to the Karoo at Graaff-Reinet.
The coastal side takes in the surf towns of the Sunshine Coast — Jeffreys Bay, St Francis Bay, Kenton-on-Sea and Port Alfred — plus the malaria-free game reserves of the Kariega and Bushmans river valleys.
Inland the district changes completely: 1820 Settler towns like Makhanda and Bathurst, then dry open Karoo around Graaff-Reinet, Somerset East and the Camdeboo mountains.
Towns in Sarah Baartman
Towns without a page of their own yet open on Google Maps. We add full town pages as we finish researching them.
Highlights of Sarah Baartman
Natural landmark
Valley of Desolation
Graaff-Reinet
Sheer dolerite columns rising above the Karoo plains inside Camdeboo National Park, a short drive from the centre of Graaff-Reinet.
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Restaurant
3 Fat Fish
Jeffreys Bay
A Jeffreys Bay restaurant on the Sunshine Coast, known locally for contemporary food and a relaxed surf-town setting.
View detailsThings to do in Sarah Baartman
Surf break
Supertubes
Jeffreys Bay
The right-hand point break that made Jeffreys Bay internationally known, and the venue for the World Surf League event held here each winter.
View detailsBeach
Dolphin Beach
Jeffreys Bay
The town's main swimming beach, gentler than the point breaks and the usual choice for families and beginner surf lessons.
View detailsNature reserve & birding
Seekoei River Nature Reserve
Jeffreys Bay
An estuary reserve at Aston Bay, just west of town, with bird hides over the wetland — good for waders and flamingos out of surf season.
View detailsGardens
Makana Botanical Gardens
Makhanda
Historic gardens below the university, laid out in the 1850s and still a quiet place to walk between town and campus.
View detailsNational park
Camdeboo National Park
Graaff-Reinet
The SANParks reserve that almost entirely surrounds Graaff-Reinet, holding the Valley of Desolation, the Nqweba Dam and Karoo game-viewing loops.
View detailsNatural landmark
Valley of Desolation
Graaff-Reinet
Dolerite columns standing 120m above the Karoo plain, reached on a tarred road from the park gate — the classic late-afternoon drive out of town.
View detailsSucculent collection
Obesa Nursery
Graaff-Reinet
A working nursery holding one of the world's better-known private collections of succulents and cacti, on the edge of town.
View detailsWhere to eat in Sarah Baartman
Restaurant
3 Fat Fish
Jeffreys Bay
An established Jeffreys Bay restaurant, one of the town's regular dinner bookings through the holiday season.
View detailsDeli & café
InFood Deli
Jeffreys Bay
A deli and café in town used for breakfast, coffee and takeaway food — the sort of place surfers stop at after a dawn session.
View detailsCafés & restaurants
High Street cafés
Makhanda
Most of Makhanda's eating out sits along High Street and New Street, running on the university term and packed out during festival week.
View detailsRestaurant
Polka Café
Graaff-Reinet
A restaurant in a restored Parsonage Street house, one of the town's standing dinner options alongside the hotel dining rooms.
View detailsRestaurant & pub
Coldstream Restaurant
Graaff-Reinet
A Church Street restaurant in a historic building, serving Karoo staples in a town where lamb is the local speciality.
View detailsWhere to stay in Sarah Baartman
Guest house
African Perfection
Jeffreys Bay
Guest accommodation directly above Supertubes, about as close to the wave as it is possible to sleep.
View detailsSelf catering
Self-catering along the point
Jeffreys Bay
Most Jeffreys Bay accommodation is self-catering apartments and houses along the point and Dolphin Beach, booked well ahead for December and for the July contest.
View detailsGuest houses
Guest houses & B&Bs
Makhanda
The town's accommodation is mainly small guest houses in Victorian and settler-era houses. Festival week sells out months ahead.
View detailsHistoric hotel
Drostdy Hotel
Graaff-Reinet
The hotel built around the 1806 drostdy building and the restored cottages of Stretch's Court behind it, in the middle of the historic centre.
View detailsGuest houses
Karoo guest houses
Graaff-Reinet
Graaff-Reinet has an unusual number of Cape Dutch and Victorian houses working as guest accommodation, most within walking distance of Church Street.
View detailsCulture & heritage in Sarah Baartman
Museum
J-Bay Surf Museum
Jeffreys Bay
A small museum tracing how a farming and fishing settlement turned into a surf town, with boards and photographs from the 1960s onwards.
View detailsMuseum
Jeffreys Bay Shell Museum
Jeffreys Bay
A collection of shells gathered from the local beaches, housed with the town's library and tourism office — a short, genuinely local stop.
View detailsArts festival
National Arts Festival
Makhanda
Africa's largest arts festival takes over Makhanda for about eleven days each winter, filling halls, churches and school venues with theatre, music and visual art.
View detailsMuseum
Observatory Museum
Makhanda
A restored Victorian house on Bathurst Street containing a working camera obscura in its rooftop turret, projecting a live image of the town onto a table.
View detailsMuseum complex
Albany Museum
Makhanda
One of South Africa's oldest museums, now a complex of sites in Makhanda covering natural science, history and the region's frontier past.
View detailsMonument & venue
1820 Settlers National Monument
Makhanda
The modernist building on Gunfire Hill above the town, home to the festival's main venues and a wide view across Makhanda.
View detailsCathedral
Cathedral of St Michael & St George
Makhanda
The tall stone spire in the middle of High Street, the landmark you navigate the town centre by.
View detailsArt collective
Egazini Outreach Project
Makhanda
A community printmaking and art collective in Makhanda producing work that reads the frontier wars from a Xhosa perspective.
View detailsCreative space
The Black Power Station
Makhanda
A disused power station turned into an independent arts and music space, running workshops and performances outside the festival calendar.
View detailsMuseum
Reinet House
Graaff-Reinet
The old Dutch Reformed parsonage on Murray Street, now a period museum, with a grapevine in the yard planted in the 1870s.
View detailsChurch & landmark
Dutch Reformed Church (Grootkerk)
Graaff-Reinet
The Gothic-revival church standing at the head of Church Street, the building the whole town plan points towards.
View detailsMuseum
Old Library Museum
Graaff-Reinet
Part of the Graaff-Reinet Museum group, holding Karoo fossil material and a collection of Eastern Cape rock art reproductions.
View detailsShopping in Sarah Baartman
Factory shops
Surf brand factory shops
Jeffreys Bay
Jeffreys Bay's surf-brand factory outlets are a destination in themselves, clustered around Da Gama Road and drawing shoppers from across the province.
View detailsShopping centre
Fountains Mall
Jeffreys Bay
The town's main centre for supermarkets, banking and pharmacies, on the main road in from the N2.
View detailsShopping centre
Pepper Grove Mall
Makhanda
The town's main centre for supermarkets and everyday shopping, a short walk from the university side of town.
View detailsShops & galleries
Church Street shops
Graaff-Reinet
Antiques, galleries and Karoo produce along Church and Somerset streets, with supermarkets a short drive out towards the N9.
View detailsNightlife & entertainment in Sarah Baartman
Bars
Point-side bars
Jeffreys Bay
Nightlife concentrates near Supertubes and along Da Gama Road, and swells hugely during the July surf contest.
View detailsPub
The Rat & Parrot
Makhanda
The New Street pub that generations of Rhodes students have used as their default meeting point.
View detailsEvenings out
Hotel bars & stoep dining
Graaff-Reinet
Evenings here are hotel bars and long dinners rather than clubs — the Karoo night sky does most of the entertaining.
View detailsUseful local services in Sarah Baartman
University
Rhodes University
Makhanda
The university shapes the whole town — its academic year sets the rhythm of Makhanda's restaurants, accommodation and nightlife.
View detailsEveryday services
Town services
Graaff-Reinet
Fuel, banks, pharmacies and a hospital are all in town — Graaff-Reinet is the service centre for a very large stretch of the Karoo.
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