Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Port Elizabeth or known as Nelson Mandela Bay is a city in South Africa, situated in the Eastern Cape Province, 770km east of Cape Town. The city, often shortened to PE and nicknamed The Friendly City or The Windy City, stretches for 16km along Algoa Bay, and is one of the major seaports in South Africa. Port Elizabeth was founded as a town in 1820 to house British settlers as a way of strengthening the border region between the Cape Colony and the warlike Xhosa tribe. It now forms part of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality which has a population of over 1 million. The city is in a friendship partnership with the Swedish City of Gothenburg and is a sister city to the American cities of Jacksonville, Florida and Palm Desert, California. Located at the end of the picturesque Garden Route along the Cape coast, the city is one of South Africa’s major destinations for tourists, many of whom come simply to enjoy the many fine beaches in and near the city. The area surrounding the CBD has a number of historic attractions, many of which are linked by the Donkin Heritage Trail. These include the Campanile (bell tower), built in 1923 to commemorate the arrival of the 1820 Settlers and offering a great viewpoint over the city; the city hall (1862); the Donkin Reserve park and monument; and the old stone Fort Frederick itself (1799). Other attractions include the gardens at St George's Park, the King George VI Art Gallery, the museum and oceanography room at Humewood, and the new Boardwalk waterfront complex. The wider area surrounding PE also features a number of game viewing opportunities, including the famous Addo Elephant Park, 72km to the north near the Zuurberg mountain range and National Park. Port Elizabeth is known commonly as the watersports capital of South Africa and boasts an ever increasing number of watersports events annually. Algoa bay is home to scuba diving, game fishing charters, surfing, windsurfing, kiteboarding to name but a few. There a...

Channel: www.CheckMyCity.com Video Length: 27s Date Found: Sun, Mar 07 2010 11:22 PM Category: Travel Date Produced: Sun, Mar 07 2010 11:11 PM View Count: 1