Port Elizabeth, South Africa - Beach Day - Feb 12

Port Elizabeth is a clean and friendly city of 775,000 on Nelson Mandela Bay on southern coast of South Africa. It’s pretty far to the east, just before the 90 degree bend on the country’s southeast corner where it starts running north-south along the Indian Ocean.

We spent the day on the beaches, of which Port Elizabeth has several inside the city. They run along a boardwalk, from King’s Beach to Hobie beach.

The water was a little cold for swimming (65 degrees), even though the air was a toasty and dry 85. Port Elizabeth is known for surfing; we saw 8 or 10 board shops. It’s about the same latitude as North Carolina, so the prevailing currents bring cold Antarctic water.

[Trigger warning: PETA-philes may find the following traumatic or disturbing].

Joani and I had a great lunch at the seaside Blue Waters Café, just off the boardwalk. Highlight of the lunch was a Springbok carpaccio appetizer. I mean, you just don’t get this every day.

Here’s a picture of us in the restaurant, with Shark’s Rock jetty in the background. For a main course, I had line-caught yellow tail, every bit as good as the kingklip on the south Cape;. Joani opted for Springbok strips. Springbok has a strong flavor similar to venison. Springbok horns are permanent; they don’t shed them every year like deer do.

Here is Hobie Beach as seen from Shark’s Rock Pier.

We did some shopping and walking along the boardwalk. Tomorrow we are visiting the Inkwenkwizi Game Reserve (I can’t pronounce it either), near the port of East London, South Africa. “Although common, wildlife sightings cannot be guaranteed.”