Solo Spiritual trip To Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), South Africa

During my 2024 trip, I established a South African pen pal exchange of 70 letters between Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and Brunswick County Early college, North Carolina, United States. I filled my free checked bag with donations and gifts to give away in South Africa. I bought a lot of items from street vendors to give away as prizes for the students back in the United States. I also did a question and answer section for the students of both schools.

Accommodations

I had a lovely trip reconnecting with my host family, the Wilmots. Wilmot Cottages is a self serve establishment, but Shena and Nick welcomed me like family. In 2012, Shena gave us, my fellow teaching interns and I, a pin of a person with open arms and the colors of the South African that read “welcome to the family."

I loved the welcoming attitude of all the people I was blessed to interact with.

Pine Lodge Resort and Conference Center: Mrs. Wilmot recommended this accommodation for larger groups of people over seven (example: group of scouts, teacher volunteers, large families, etc).

I would also recommend the Dolphin Bay Boutique Hotel and Spa or the Paxton Hotel. All accommodations are walking distance from the beach!

For a wildlife immersion experience with the modern comforts, I would recommend Amakhala Game Reserve. In 2012, we stayed a couple of nights at Amakhala. It was awesome to wake up and spot wildlife from their viewing decks.

Things to do

Mr. Nick Wilmot is a licensed tour guide and he took me to the following Safaris and notable sights:

• Addo Elephant park (warthogs, Kudo, elephants, etc.)

• SANCCOB (penguins and other rescued sea birds, etc.)

• Cape Recife light house and wilderness tour

• Kragga Kamma Game Park

I strongly recommend contacting Nick Wilmot if you want an awesome tour guide!

Mrs. Shena Wilmot personally contacted Raggie Tours to book a cruise for me. She is vary active in many of the local tourism organizations and is always a favorite because of her big heart and homemade snacks.

One of the owners of Raggie tours is Lloyd Edwards, he was our boat captain and was very knowledgeable about conservation efforts and environmental issues. He is also a wonderful photographer and his pictures can be seen in the airport and SANCCOB. He once took a picture of when the island had thousands of penguin mating pairs. Unfortunately we could only see a handful today and they are in very real danger of going extinct.

Other things to do:

• Sunday River Adventures (river boat cruises, sand boarding down the sand dunes).

I only ate at two restaurants, but I would highly recommend both (I was blessed to have friends who would feed me wonderful home cooked meals)

• Something Good Roadhouse - Beach-front restaurant, popular with locals

• Off the Hook - In the habor, great for a bite after the dolphins and penguins tour with Raggie Charters

In this trip I incorporated volunteer work with fun travel. Port Elizabeth has so much to offer. However, a non-native won't have easy access to many of the sights. Contact me for trip planning, introduction to trustworthy tour guides, transportation and hotel accommodations!

I became a Fora travel agent in December of 2023 because I love to travel and meet new people. I also realized if I had known how to book my own travel, arrange tour guides and make those international travel connections with people I trusted, I could have gone with my family to the World Scout Jamboree (summer of 2023). I am planning a trip to Poland for the next World Jamboree in 2027, bu I'm not sure if I will go as a Scout leader or as a travel agent of scout leaders and/or parents who want to attend the event.

I am really thankful for all the online training and support from Fora. It gave me the courage and knowledge to book a solo trip to South Africa!

This trip report is part of our ongoing series on travel to South Africa. In need of further inspiration? Check out Anne Bisgaard’s guide, Spectacular South Africa.