Kirkwood is one of a number of towns benefitting from the burgeoning Addo Elephant National Park’s increase in size. More ‘Big 7’ tourists have boosted tourism numbers in this part of the Eastern Cape, with many industries within the Sundays River Valley benefitting from this.
Kirkwood is situated centrally, at the foot of Rietberg, within the fertile valley, serving an extensive citrus industry, as well as related agricultural business. A number of private lodges, game farms and nature reserves can also be found within the immediate vicinity of town, juxtaposing their eco-tourism activities with the labour-intensiveness of citrus farming.
Beyond the bakkies and bustle of Kirkwood’s rural streets, one can explore many gravel roads.
To the east of town, you will find a Moravian Mission station built in 1818 at Enon. The town itself, however, was only envisaged nearly 50 years later, when auctioneer James Somers Kirkwood climbed a hill and envisaged the beautiful valley at his feet neatly filled with fields and orchards. It took more than three decades for him to fulfil this dream, and Kirkwood was eventually founded on his first farm in 1912.
Did You Know? Kirkwood is home to a carnivorous mini-dino nicknamed Kirky (Nqwebasaurus thwazi), the most complete and best preserved Cretaceous Theropod fossil found thus far in Africa.
The Eastern Cape Coastal Route covers the length of the Eastern Cape Province stretching across a number of districts. The route starts at T...