Makhanda

Makhanda is an old frontier town in the Eastern Cape, founded as a British military post in 1812 and known as Grahamstown until it was renamed in 2018 after the Xhosa prophet Makhanda ka Nxele. Today it is a student town built around Rhodes University, with a High Court, a cathedral and more than 40 churches, which earned it the name City of Saints. Most outsiders come for one thing, the National Arts Festival, and a smaller number use it as a base for the game reserves nearby.

Getting there

The town is on the N2 between Gqeberha and East London. Gqeberha, about 110 to 125 km away, is the usual airport, and East London is roughly 130 to 160 km the other way. Both have flights from the main South African cities. Greyhound and Intercape coaches stop here, and minibus taxis leave from Raglan Street. A hire car from the airport is the simplest option, and it also gets you to the reserves.

When to go

The National Arts Festival is the big draw. It runs for about ten days around the end of June and start of July, and recent editions have staged more than 270 productions across curated and Fringe programmes. The whole town fills up, so book a bed months ahead. SciFest Africa, the national science festival, comes earlier in the year, usually late March or early April. Outside these weeks the town belongs to its students.

What to do

At festival time the Village Green is the place to eat, shop for crafts and catch free performances, and Fringe groups run their own venues and workshops across town. The rest of the year, the Albany Museum group covers natural history, local history and the Observatory Museum, and the 1820 Settlers National Monument remembers the British settlers who arrived that year. The Cathedral of St Michael and St George is worth a look, and birders like the Makana Botanical Gardens, one of the oldest in South Africa, where over 160 species have been seen.

Several private Big Five reserves lie within about 60 km, including Amakhala, Shamwari, Kwandwe and Pumba, which makes the town a reasonable overnight stop on a safari trip.

Good to know

The local municipality has struggled for years, and water is the main problem. A Daily Maverick report from September 2026 found residents whose taps ran on only a couple of days a week, and then mostly in the early hours. Ask your host whether they have tanks or another supply before you book, and keep drinking water with you. Roads and other services are patchy too, so give yourself extra time.

Last updated 6 October 2026. Sources: Wikipedia, Wikivoyage, National Arts Festival, Music In Africa, Daily Maverick.