Natural Sights
Inland of Addo and Makhanda is the historic university town of Alice, where London missionaries established the Lovedale Missionary College and the first printing press in Southern Africa.
The college became Fort Hare University and the Lovedale Press gave rise to a proud tradition of black journalism and education in general that continues today. From the dusty plain of Fort Beaufort to Alice, the Hogsback mountains rise into the crisp air of the subcontinent's southernmost afro-alpine mountain enclave.
On top of the dolerite Hogsback crests are found typical alpine heathlands; below this is a fynbos belt where chest-high erica and protea plants form impenetrable thickets; further below this are temperate yellowwood forests that rival the Tsitsikamma famous woods. Cascades, such as the Bridal Veil, Swallowtail and Madonna and Child waterfalls, plunge over precipices within the forests, where cosy mountain inns offer warmth and wholesome country fare.
The Hogsback is part of the greater Amatola or Winterberg range, which stretches across the northern Ciskei to the Katberg mountain complex.
The Eastern Cape Tension Zone
Andrew Geddes Bain built the Katberg Pass through the sharp peaks of the Katberg mountains, which seem to carve at the eggshell-blue sky like Sharpened knives. In winter the Amatola range lies covered in snow and its waterfalls freeze solid, while in summer the mountains are dusted with the bright blooms of everlastings.
Between the golden arcs of St Francis Bay and Algoa Bay, the Cape Fold mountains finally peter out; the fynbos-sprinkled slopes of the Suurberg range blend into the thorn bushveld and sour grasslands just west of Makhanda. Ecologists call this area 'the Eastern Cape tension zone' because it is the meeting place of the fynbos grassland, savanna, afro-montane and subtropical lowland forest ecosystems.
The climate here is equally variable, leading a local scribe to write: 'The vernal joys ofMakhanda are something to remember, spring comes not once, but four times 'twixt mid-June and November'.
Makhanda Quarry
Once upon a time, the old kaolin mine on the outskirts of town (behind The Hill) was the late-night haunt of those admitted to the secret cult of night swimming. You could spend years there as a student and never know that one of the best swimming holes in the region was just over the hill.
But then more residences were built on The Hill, and then more, and the secret place became better known and more frequented. As with places like Victoria Falls or Clifton Beach, the fact that they are popular does not detract from their basic appeal. And each new generation of students will know it as they find it.
By David Bristow