Day 23 – Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Today was Queen Anne’s maiden visit to Port Elizabeth also known as Gqeberha. Port Elizabeth is a major port in South Africa and is the gateway to the Eastern Cape’s safari tourism.

On disembarking we found the port area exceptionally run down and many of the buildings have long been abandoned and are in a state of dereliction, along with the old narrow gauge railway lines which have fallen into disrepair with crumbling train carriages rotting where they have come to rest. It feels rather post-apocalyptic.

The city is the centre of South Africa’s automotive industry, with the factories of General Motors, Ford and Volkswagen as well as many others.

Rather than spend the day in this rather drab city we opted for an excursion to the Lalibela Wildlife Reserve, a privately owned 100,000 hectare (approximately 380 square miles) animal sanctuary. This impressive estate houses approximately 40 elephants, numerous white rhino, hippos, six lions, dozens of water buffalo, giraffes, cheetahs, warthogs, zebras, eland, hyenas, jackals and numerous other animals. Whilst the animals are technically fenced in (albeit their territory comprises 380 sq miles), they are not subject to any human intervention other than safeguarding against poachers and replenishment of their water holes in times of drought. They are not fed nor provided with veterinary care and to all intents and purposes are entirely free and self-sufficient.

Today we lurched about for two hours in safari vehicles in a rather warm 29°C, getting up close to rhinos, water buffalo, a lion who had just killed a warthog, dozens of zebra, hippos, eland and a very large male elephant. Surprisingly we learned that rhinos are actually rather shy and docile and are more likely to run away than confront you (unless they are protecting their babies), and that in fact you are far more likely to be charged by a water buffalo or hippo, both of which are very territorial. Hippos will chase lions and other large animals out of their water holes! The only animal they won’t tangle with is an elephant. ☺️ 🦛

We also learned that South Africa is one of the world’s few mega-diverse countries, meaning it harbours exceptionally high numbers of multiple different species. It is a global leader in biodiversity conservation with 5.5% of its land dedicated to conservation. Intensive efforts have been made to bring rhino populations, (both black-and-white), back from the brink of extinction. For example numbers of white rhino in southern Africa have recovered from less than 100 in the early 1900s to approximately 15,500 as of August 2025, (source: The Rhino International Foundation). Numbers of black rhino have recovered from 2,300 in 1996 to approximately 6,700 in 2025. Sadly they are still rigorously sought after by poachers, and poaching is by far the biggest threat to their survival.

In 1986 the African Elephant Database was introduced to monitor numbers of wild elephant. In 1989, the sale of elephants and/or their body parts was banned by member states of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. After the ban the sale of ivory collapsed by more than 95% within 10 years, allowing elephant populations to recover. There are now an estimated 415,000 elephants in the wild, although we are told that poaching persists, due to an increasing demand from the Far East (what is wrong with these people?) And sadly, as well as nature reserves for the protection and respectful viewing of wild animals, there are almost as many reserves dedicated to the hunting of wild animals, almost entirely dedicated to the Americans who apparently can’t get enough of shooting and killing wild animals (again, one can only wonder what is wrong with these people). There are many depressing facts and figures regarding African wildlife, but there are also encouraging stories and statistics, achieved by incredibly dedicated, talented, brave and compassionate groups of human beings who are as committed to saving wildlife as others are to destroying it. God bless them.