The Eastern Cape is our second-biggest and most diverse province. Here you’ll find snowy mountains, harsh semi-desert plains, game-filled bush, tangled forests, placid lagoons and wild oceans. With all this to explore, there are loads of fantastic adventures, but the more cerebral visitor also has lots to look forward to, as this is arguably the most culturally diverse of South Africa’s provinces. There really is something for everyone. You’ll be spoiled for choice when planning a trip to the Eastern Cape, so hold out your hands and count off the best options on your fingers.

The coelacanth is the most unusual fish in the world. Once thought extinct, a very newly deceased specimen was found by Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, the curator of the East London Museum, just before Christmas in 1938 on her regular inspection of the fishing trawlers. It's a long story, but she contacted noted ichthyologist J.L.B Smith, who promptly confirmed that it was, indeed, a coelacanth - a fish previously known only from the fossil record and long thought extinct. Since then, quite a few more have been caught in the deep ocena trenches off the east coast of Africa.Get the full story at the East London Museum or the SA Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity in Grahamstown.

2. UNUSUAL LANDMARKS

It's a pleasant hike, or a somewhat adventurous drive, of just under ten kilometres from coffee Bay to Hole in the Wall. this unusual spot consists of a natural sea arch in a huge offshore rock - or a small island, depending on how you look at it.

Most rivers enter the sea in a relatively restrained way - through simple mouths, complicated deltas or lovely lagoons. But a few, a very few, just leap into the sea off high cliffs. Waterfall Bluff, on the Wild Coast, is one of the few waterfalls on the planet that fall directly into the sea. You have to hike about five kilometres to get there, but it's worth it.

3. ANIMALS ON THE EDGE

In the early pasrt of last century, elephants were considered a threat to agricultural development, so in some areas they were "species-specifically cleansed". In 1919 a Major P.J. Pretorius was tasked with eliminating the Addo Elephants. Legend has it he kitted himself out in a suit of leather armour to protect himeslf from the thorn bushes, and carried a ladder to peer over the thick scrub to ascertain the position of the herds. In one year he shot 114 elephants. Flushed with his success, he turned to the much less inconvenient Knysna elephants, which led to public opinion finally turning against him. It took a while, but the Addo Elephant Park was proclaimed in 1931, when there were only 11 elephants left in the area - a population that has grown to more than 500. The minuscule park of 1931 has been extended a number of times, and the Greater Addo Elephant National Parknow measures an impressive 170 000 hectares. But it's a work in progress, and it is constantlybeing expanded. there is a great campsite in the park. If you're really into elephants, you can walk with some trained elephants and even go for a game-viewingelephant-back ride, as a day trip from the park.
Soon after Addo was proclaimed, the slowly growing body of conservationists noticed another extinction in the making. At that stage there were only about 25 Cape Mountain Zebra inthe Craddock area (although there were a few scattered around elsewherein their range). Like the Addo Elephants, this tiny population of zebras, once it was protected from hunting, recovered, albeit slowly,and now they number about 300. You can see them by visitingthe Mountain Zebra National Park, where there's a great campsite and a wonderful overnight hike.
Unlike the Addo Elephants and the Cape Mountain Zebras, Huberta the Hippowas a loner, so she never really had much chance of starting a dynasty. She was born somewhere near St Lucia, but was of a far more adventurous bent than most hippos. Late in 1928 she started heading south just to see what was there - beyond the horizon, past the next pool or river. She spent three years on her solo trek, covering a staggering 1600km. she crossed railway lines and roads, munched her way through suburban gardens, swam in the warm Indian Ocean from densely populated beaches and, when she found a comfy spot, would settle down for a couple of weeks or months. She became a celebrity, appearing in local and international newspapers. Unlike many of her species, she was a friendly individual and seemed to have no fear of humans. And this was probably her downfall. In April 1931 she was gunned down while sleeping on the side of the Keiskamma river by three intrepid hunters". Gee, I bet that made them feel tough. they were each fined 25 pounds, which was more money than it sounds now, but it still didn't make up for the fact they had carelessly, callously and cravenly killed a national icon, and cut short an epic journey that  - who knows - might have continued all the way to Cape Town. You can see Huberta's preserved body in the Amathole Museum in King Williams Town, near East London.

4. GREAT MEN

The smallmilitary garrison founded by Colonel Johan Graham in 1812 was strategically placed to administer and monitor a chain of forts along the Great Kei River that had arbitarily beeb designated as the border between the British Cape Colony and "Kaffraria", the land of the Xhosa. Not surprisingly, this development was met with a distingct lack of enthusiasm by the resident Xhosa - a sentiment eloquently illustrated by the 1819 Battle of Grahamstown, in which the Xhosa were led by the warrior and sangoma Mkana.
On 22 april 1899, he and 10 000 spear-wielding warriors came thundering over the hill to the east of the settlement with the sunrise at their backs. The few hundred soldiers retreated to their well-built fort and simply mowed down the warriors, who, in the parlance of American B-grade movies, had "brought knives to a gunfight". After the battle, Makana gave himself up to the British in order to save his followers. He was imprisoned on Robben Island, and drowned trying to escape. What the British called the Fifth Frontier War, the Xhosas called the Battle of Egazini, which - appropriately - means "the place of blood". You'll get a better understanding on a community-run guided tour.

The upshot of this battle was that the British brought in thousands of more or less desperate folk from England, promising them land and endless opportunities. Little did these people, whom we remember as the 1820 Settlers, know that they were to form a living barrier between the Xhosas and the heart of the British  Colony of the Cape.
Some lived on farms, and some in small settlements like the little town of Salem near Grahamstown. It was a simple villaga - a small church, a few houses and a village green similar to those found in almost every English village of the era. During the Sixth Frontier War (1834 - 1835) the few burghers of Salem shuddered in horror as thousands of Xhosa warriors danced on the hill opposite, stamping their feet and ritually sharpening their spears as they eyed the fat cattle grazing near the village. running around frantically, the settlers drove their cattle into a central enclosure, barrricaded themselves in the church and loaded their guns. But Richard Gush, a carpenter and a devout Quaker, rode unarmed out to the warriors on the hill. With his two companions he asked why the Xhosa intended attacking their village. they replied that they were hungry, so Gush went back to the village, gathered some freshly baked bread (which was more symbolic than anything else) and a few other gifts, and returned - again unarmed - to the men on the hill. The warriors thanked him, turned around and forever after left in peace the little town of Salem.
the village hasn't changed much. You can attend a service in the small church, and sit on the hard, uncomfortable pews built by Richard Gush. to this day, cricket games are played on the village green, and the town lives up to its name, which means peace.

Many years later, when apartheid was at its height and seemed set to last a thousandyears, a young man called Steve Biko combined a practical focus on local development, education and the extension of medical services with outspoken suppor for the Black Consciousness Movement and resistance to apartheid and white domination. In the spring of 1977 he was arrested and died in detention, but his influence lived on. there is a monument to Biko just outside King Williams Town, and his story forms part of all the guided tours of the town.

Biko was among many anti-apartheid heroes born in the Eastern Cape , but one of them stands head and shoulders (sometimes literally) above the rest. nelson Mandela, who was born in the Transkei, needs no introduction - renowned for his part in the struggle against apartheid, his 27 years in prison and, most importantly of forgiveness, non-racialism and non-violence. His influence is everywhere, but you'll get the full story by visiting the Nelson Mandela Museum in Mthatha and its two satellite museums in Mandela's birthplace at Mvezo and the small town of Qunu, where he spent his childhood and where he has chosen to retire.

5. WOMEN WITH STORIES

Accompanying the thousands of British settlers, of whom Richard Gush was one, was Sir Rufane Donkin, who was to administer the small settlement on Algoa Bay where the settlers landed. He was not in a good space, having just lost his wife, Elizabeth Donkin, who had died in India. So, when he ended up being saddled with the governing of this fledgling town, he named it after her, calling it Port Elizabeth. (I'll bet you thought it was named after Queen Elizabeth I of England.) Have a look at the touching memorial to this much-loved, but short-lived, woman at the Donkin Reserve in the middle of the city.

More than 30 years after the valiant but ill-fated attempt of the prophet Makana to sweep the white men inot the sea by the use of the spear and the knobkierie, the plight of the Xhosa was worse than ever. The extension of white farms onto the tribal grazing land led to repeated conflict and to real hardship. In the face of this, and after the clear and repeated failure of the use of force, a young prophetess called Nonqawuse dreamed a new strategy. The ancestors, she claimed, would sweep the white people into the sea if the Xhosa slaughtered all their cattle and refused to plant crops. Well, it sounds like a pretty wacky idea, but there are some notable precedents, including that of Abraham offering up his son as a burnt sacrifice. Maybe Nonqawuse just didn't hear that oh-so importatn little last minute rider like Abraham did: Only joking, just testing your faith, don't worry."
The upshot, as you can imagine, was disastrous. Legend has it that the unfortunate maiden had her vision at a pretty pool on the Qolora River, which you can visit on a Wild Coast hike.

another woman with imagination and the gift of the gab was Olive Shreiner, who lived and died near Cradock. You can visit her house , or take an energetic hike to her grave. She was an incredible woman for her time (1855 - 1920). Best known for her novels, which include the iconic Story of an African Farm, she was an outspoken critic of the inequality and inequity of the British colonial system, and the already entrenched racism and sexism of south Africa. she was interned by the British for a year during the South African War because of her beliefs and her very public criticism of the colonial authorities.

In another small Karoo town lived a equally creative woman who felt the isolation of the Karoo far more keenly than Schreiner did. Helen Martins is remembered for the way she decorated her small house in Nieu-Bethesda by painting the walls bright colours and surrounding herself with glass and mirrors. She filled the grden with fantastic (in the true sense of the word) sculptures, giving them huge glass eyes and surrounding them with ponds of water, again to capture and reflect light, and to keep at bay the terrifying dark of the Karoo nights. Ironically, her attempts to hold and keep the light by working with ground glass resulted in her going blind. so, in fear, loneliness and frustration, she committed suicide. She had not been accepted by the townspeople, who considered her, at best crazy or, at worst, totally evil. The house and sculptures went into decline after her death, but were eventually restored and turned into a museum to honour South Africa's foremost outsider artist, who now enjoys the fame and popularity she could never have hoped for in life.

In some ways, it's all a matter of the time in which one lives. What seems okay - even praiseworthy - now may well have been considered totally weird, immoral or even downright evil in the past. And the opposite also holds true, as illustrated by the sad life and evensadder death of Khoisan woman Saartjie Baartman.
Orphaned in a commando raid, she was forced into slavery on a farm. As if that wasn't bad enough, in 1810 she was taken to England and exhibited as a freak. Paraded almost naked at fairgrounds, she was prodded andk poked totally dehumanised. but worse was to come. She was sold to a Frenchman, who added er to his menangerie of exotic animals. Yes, animals! Eventually, she was abandoned, and died in poverty on the streets of Paris in 1815. To add insult to injury, her brain, skeleton and genitals were preserved and kept on display in a museum. After a protracted legal and diplomatic battle, her remains were returned to South Africa in 2002, and she was buried with dignity in the small town of Hankey, close to where she was born. Well, better late than never, I guess. Her gravesite is open to visitors.

6. WORLD-CLASS ADVENTURE

At 216 metres high, the Bloukrans Bungy is officially the highest commercial bungy jump in the world. It's scary, but if adrenalin is your thing you just have to do this one.

Bruce's Beauties at St Francis Bay is reputed to be the most perfect wasve in the world. When it's working, it may well be, but nearby Jeffreys Bay is more consistent and, some say, offers better surfing. and even if you've never even showered alone, you can take surf lessons at J Bay.

Mountain biking the North-Eastern Cape's eight mountain passes over te wild side of the Drakensberg is a truly epic challenge. They're high, they're steep and depending on the weather, they may be snowy. But, hey, if you're not a mountain biker, even taking a 4x4 through here is an adventure. It's not just a challenge, there's also rock art, birds, dinosaur footprints and other scenic splendours.

Another wild ride is the blackwater tubing on the Storms River. You get all kitted out in wetsuits, personal flotation devices and helmets, and flollop down this beautiful custom-made one-person sort-of tube things. There are a few rapids, a couple of jumps and a spectacular, long, deep, dark gorge near the end.

Close by is the treetop Tsitisikamma Canopy Tour. You get to swing through the trees like Tarzan, but on strong, safe, stell cables attaced by a secure full-body harness. It's not the only treetop canopy tour in south Africa, but it was te first.

These are all great, but the ultimate Eastern Cape adventure has got to be diving te sardine run on the Wild Coast. It's the largest migration in the world in terms of biomass. Millions and millions of pilchards swim up from the Cape to the Wild Coast and the KZN South Coast, followed by bigger fish, sharks, dolphins, Bryde's whales and whole squadrons of gannets and other seabirds. the Holy Grail is to dive in a baitball, which is when the dolphins herd the sardines into a small, tightly knit group, off which they then feed. Sharks, seals andeven Bryde's or humpback whales join in the feeding frenzy and the gannets dive-bomb the whole lot from the air. Wild.

7. ATYPICAL TOWNS

The two cities of Port Elizabeth and East London are both well worth visiting as, along with all the usual urban stuff, they both have great beaches and a number of really interesting attractions. But it's the smaller, more unusual towns that you hardly ever hear of that make for the best exploring.

Grahamstown is not really small, but it has a small-town feel, probably because of all the students and scholars during term time. It really is a cultural and rather erudite destination, with loads of interesting and very unusual museums. My favourites are the National English Literary Museum and the fascinating Observatory Museum with its cutting edge Victorian-era technology, including the only camera obscura in the southern hemisphere. And, of course, don't forget the annual National Arts Festival in July. There is a good campsite just on the edge of town.

Close to Grahamstown, en routeto the coast, is the fascinating little settlement of Bathurst, renowned for it's giant pineapple, which stands at over 16 metres. the annual ox braai at New Year is reputed to be a party not to be missed and, for real party animals, the Pig & Whistle is thought to be the oldest pub in South Africa. tere are also a number of interesting agricultural museums, and it's close to the lovely Waters Meeting Nature Reserve onthe Kowie River.

Also close to Grahamstown is the reincarnated town of Alicedale. built to house railway workers who shovelled coal and rewatered steam  engines, the town virtually died when electric trains became the norm. But ten it was revived by a luxury hotel and a world-class golf course. Many of the people who managed to hang in there after their livelihood disappeared now have new jobs in tourism. It's not perfect, but it's an improvement on total economic meltdown.

Not to be confused with Alicedale is Alice, where Nelson Mandela, Robert Sobukwe, Oliver Tambo and other luminaries attended the now world-famous University of Fort Hare. It may have been designed to support apartheid and shore up separate development, but today this town is growing in leaps and bounds.

The it-can-only-happen-in-SA twin towns of King Williams Town and Bisho are not that fortunate. At the height of the apartheid era, when the nominalyy independent Ciskei was founded, King Williams Town just narrowly squeaked out on the RSA side of the arbitraryborder. So, less that ten kilometres away, and at great expense to South African taxpayers the new town of isho was built to serve as the capital of the Ciskei. Well, what is politically expedient is not necessarily practical, so the two towns have now sort of merged, but it's still a very weird and artificial arrangement.

Graff-Reinet doesn't have a university, and it's hundreds of years since it's been the seat of any goverment, but it probably has more museums and national monuments thatn any other town in South Africa - even Grahamstown. you could spend two or three days just strolling from one museum or art gallery to another. If that's not your thing, it's also the centre of South Africa's fledging tquilla industry. Yes, tasting trips are available , but don't drive afterwards. It's also close to Nieu-Bethesda and the Owl House.

8. SPECTACULAR HIKES

This is just a small sample of the many fabulous hikes and day walks in the Eastern Cape. The Otter Trail is one of the oldest and most popular hikes in the country. Running from Storms River Mouth west to Nature's Valley, it traverses some spectacular coastal scenery, fynbos and coastal forest.

The Dolphin Trail runs east from Storms River and covers similar scenery, but at a very different comfort level. Wheras you are totally self-contained on the Otter Trail and stay in rugged hiking huts, accommodation on the Dolphin Trail is in comfy guest houses and your luggage is taken round by vehicle. That's more like it , isn't it? If you can't take your caravan, at least you can sleep in a real bed.

Other guided, catered, 'slackpacking' trails include the relatively new and overlapping Diaz Cross and Three Sisters trails. The Diaz Cross Trail starts just outside Port Lizabeth at Woody Cape and ends at the Fish River mouth. The first two days of the Three Sisters Trail are the same as the last two days of the Diaz Cross, and then it continues to the mouth of the Keiskamma River at Hamburg. Your luggage is driven between overnight spots, which are private homes or small guest houses.

If you were to do the Dolphin, Diaz and Three Sisters in that order, you would have walked a percentage of the Eastern Cape Coast. And the wonderful Wild Coast Meander and Wild Coast Amble, on which you hike between lovely coastal hotels, would fill in much of the rest. Both these trails are portered, guided and catered.

But the big one is the annual Eden to Addo Mega Hike. Starting from Diepwalle in Knysna, it traverses the Baviaanskloof and a whoe lot of fabulous terrain that is not accessible at other times of the year. It's a fundraiser and publicity campaign for the proposed Eden to Addo corridor, which will allow wildlife to migratealong this ancient route. It's hard hiking - 400km and five mountain ranges in 18 days - but it's catered and guided and your tents are put up for you every night. It is run in September every year.

If you are serious about hiking though, the Amatola Trail has to be on your list. there are shorter options but the full 105km, six-day trail is spectacular and includes some quite steep climbs, so it's not for the only moderately fit.

9. OFF-THE-BEATEN-TRACK CONSERVATION AREAS

The Groenendal Wilderness Area just outside Uitenhage is 30 000 hectares of fynbos surrounding a huge dam with lots of birds, great flowers and well-hidden rock art. There is one lovely day walk and a couple of overnight hikes. this is a wilderness area so there are no facilities, except toilets at the entrance near the office.

Tsolwana Nature Reserve near Tarkastad was created after authorities realised that wildlife was about the only thing the area could support. Farms had been failing since the severe droughts of the 1960s, and it was noticed that, as the cattle left, the wild animals increased, and the veld started to recover. There is great game viewing and some good hikes, but no camping in the reserve.

Probably the most interesting of the Eastern Cape  parks is Oviston Nature Reserve. The name Oviston is a contraction of Orange-Visrivier Tonnel, which refers to the Orange-Fish River inter-basin transfer, in which water from the Gariep Dam is transferred through a huge tunnel to the Fish river to irrigate Eastern Cape farms. The 16 000-hectare reserve conserves a number of Nama Karoo plants and a range of animals usually found in drier parts of the country, including black wildebeest, gemsbok, springbok and blesbok. The largest predator is the caracal, so there are some lovely walking trails and, of course water sports. there are good campsites.

Still firmly in the Karoo biome is the Camdeboo National Park, which is unusual in that it virtually surrounds the town of Graff Reinet. There are some great walks, and the Nqweba Dams offers fishing, paddling, boating and cool respite from those hot Karoo days. but the main attraction is the fascinating Valley of Desolation, which is best seen from the convenient viewpoint a short drive from the town. There is no camping in the park.

Just north of the R63 between Fort Beaufort and Adelaide is the little-known Fort Fordyce Nature Reserve. Straddling the sourveld and Afromontane forest biomes, this tiny forest reserve has spectacular biodiversity for its size. Keen twitchers can prowl the forest in search Knysna turacos (louries), Narina trogons and other megaticks. There is great hiking, mountain biking, fishing and even horse riding. Tthere's also some great climbing. There is a campsite in the reserve.

Close to Fort Fordyce is the much bigger Mpofu Nature Reserve on the slopes of the Katberg Mountains. There are some lovely self-catering options in the reserve but no camping. However, it's pretty close to Fort Fordyce.

South of Fort Beaufort is the Great Fish River Nature Reserve, which has lots of game including black rhino and, in the fish River, hippos. Other attractions are hiking and rock art.

the small but lovely Thomas Baines Nature Reserve near Grahamstown offers great hiking through some interesting fynbos, valley bushveld and Afromonatane forest. There is some basic camping on the banks of the Settlers Dam, where you can also fish.

Dwesa Nature Reserve is the only one of the many great conservation areas along the Wild Coast that has camping. Situated about halfway between Kei Mouth and Coffee Bay it's a bit out of the way, but that's the main attraction, really. Beautiful beaches, coastal forest and sourveld grassland are the backdrop for a gentle and relaxed stay.

Adapted from an article by Jennifer Stern, originally published in Caravan & Outdoor Life Magazine (May 2011)