Somerset East

Somerset East, officially renamed KwaNojoli in March 2023 in recognition of its pre-colonial Xhosa heritage, sits at the foot of the Boschberg Mountains at about 750 metres elevation in Blue Crane Route Local Municipality, Sarah Baartman District. It's roughly 180km north-east of Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) by road. The town was founded in 1825 by Lord Charles Somerset as an experimental farm and military post, positioned to improve stockbreeding in the Cape Colony and supply the frontier forces. The Boschberg, which the name translates as 'bush mountain', had been encountered by Dutch explorers as far back as 1711.

The mountain is the main event. The Boschberg rises steeply behind the town and the trails on its slopes are among the best in the Eastern Cape. There are 35km of single-track mountain bike routes through the Boschberg Nature Reserve, with local riders gathering at the Boschberg Tourism Hub on weekends. For walkers, the same terrain offers indigenous forest, kloofs, waterfalls, and over 325 recorded bird species. The mountain has giant yellowwoods, proteas, and flowering plants specific to this range.

The Walter Battiss Art Museum in the town centre is worth more time than most visitors give it. Battiss was one of South Africa's most significant modern artists, and the collection here reflects a philosophy that extends beyond canvas. The Old Parsonage museum nearby is one of the oldest standing buildings in town and covers the families and histories of the early settler period. A nine-hole golf course on the edge of town has a reputation that far exceeds its size.

The town itself has the bones of a Victorian market centre: wide streets, stone buildings, a commercial strip that still functions. It's not polished, but it's not derelict. The surrounding landscape, Karoo to the south and mountain to the north, gives it a visual quality that stays with you.