There’s something for everyone in the Sundays River Valley, with the Kirkwood hub of activities being less than an hour’s leisurely drive from Port Elizabeth.
At the heart of the tourist attractions is the Addo Elephant National Park, which is the third-largest national park in South Africa, and the only park where one can see the “Big Seven” –elephant, lion, buffalo, rhino, leopard, southern right whale and great white shark.
Stretching from the Alexandria dune fields on the coast 250 kilometres inland to the Darlington Dam in the Karoo, the park’s Kabouga region runs along the mountains behind Kirkwood.
According to research by Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB) Tourism nearly 62% of the foreign tourists who purchased a NMB Pass in 2016 visited the Addo Elephant National Park, with over 76% adding a wildlife experience to their visits.
In 2017 more than 300 000 visitors passed through Addo Elephant National Park’s gates for the first time in its 87-year history. Just over half were international tourists, according to
According to Fayroush Ludick, SANParks Regional Manager: Communications.
One of the lesser-known entrances to the park is just outside Kirkwood. The entry to the scenic 45-kilometre Bedrogfontein Route 4x4 Trail which takes visitors through some of the more remote parts of the park from Kabouga to the Darlington dam is just a few kilometres from the town.
Bedrogfontein was the site of a skirmish during the Second Anglo-Boer War, when General Jan Smutsand a commando of 250 men passed through the Sundays River valley on their epic campaign to the northwest. They attempted to ambush a British convoy transporting cannon to the Free State.
There are a number of other battlefields, with the area around Kirkwood being the scene of clashes between Khoi, Xhosa, Boers and Brits.
Visiting the sites is just one of the many adventures in the Sundays River Valley. They include hiking, mountain-biking, fishing, elephant-back rides, 4x4 routes, hunting, bird watching and just plain relaxing in the unique quiet and space of the Karoo.
This choice is reflected in the NMB tourism statistics. Second after a visit to the Addo Elephant park was the Adrenalin Addo Zipline (38%) with another favourite being the Sundays River Ferry Trip (21.7%).
Kirkwood is also the heart of the Sundays River citrus industry. It traces its origins back to 1877, when a Port Elizbeth auctioneer James Somers Kirkwood arrived to auction a farm. When a flooded Sundays River prevented him from reaching the farm he climbed a nearby hill (known today as The Lookout).
From there he had a view of the entire valley, and had a vision of it being transformed into a farming hub with irrigated fields and fruit trees. The plan was for produce to be shipped to Port Elizbeth by barges on the river.
Shortly afterwards, James himself purchased the farm "Goewernements Belooning" that he was due to auction, as well as some other farms in the valley. He founded the Sundays River Land and Irrigation Company, which was ahead of its time and failed to attract investors, leaving Kirkwood bankrupt.
However, his vision was realised in the early 1920s when work started on Sundays River Irrigation Project. His name lives on in the town of Kirkwood that was founded in 1912 on the farm, Gouwernements Belooning.
Today Kirkwood is the centre of one of the largest citrus-growing regions in South Africa with approximately 120 square kilometres of citrus orchards. Approximately 18 million cartons of oranges, lemons, grapefruit and other citrus fruit are exported from this region each year.
Visitors to Kirkwood cross the Sundays River, which is believed to be the fastest-flowing river in the country. The Khoisan people called it Nukakamma (Grassy Water) because the river's banks are always green and grassy despite the fact that it runs through the arid Karoo.
Many of the tourist attractions and experiences are centred on the river. One of the top-rated attractions by TripAdvisor members is Adrenalin Addo, which offers zip-lining over the river and canoeing on it.
Other favourites include the Daniell Cheetah Project and Addo Wildlife. Both offer visitors the opportunity to get up close to a range of wild animals on guided tours.
Then there’s the privately-owned Shamrock Chapel which houses the oldest South African-built pipe organ (dating back to 1872), and a blacksmith museum at Anne’s Villa at the Zuurberg pass.
There is much more to explore – locals all have their own favourite place or activity. And to find out about those you only have to visit the Valley.
