Alan Weyer, Tour Guide of the Year 2005 and winner of the SA Tourism Grand Prix Welcome Award, renowned raconteur, comedian and former pineapple farmer, offers his Spirits of the Past Historical Day Tours to visitors to Grahamstown and the Frontier Region.

These tours are not conventionally historical, because Weyer does not interpret history merely as a sequence of events. The focus of his tours, rather, is on interpersonal reactions, and he identifies with the people involved in the struggles of the past on a personal level.

He speaks about how the Xhosa, the Khoi-Khoi, immigrant farmers and British settlers were all inextricably bound together, and torn apart, in the battles that took place for over a hundred years during the Frontier wars.

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]]> 26.52062988281250000,-33.30894851684570312 The Angus Gillis foundation is an independent charitable trust that was initiated by Kwandwe Private Game Reserve in 2002.

The Foundation invests in the impoverished communities surrounding Kwandwe Private Game Reserve. It has established capacity-building programmes in the areas of education, leadership, cultural and sport, and health. The Foundation is about to embark on a pro-poor tourism initiative that will see the villages in the Fish River area benefiting form income sustainable generating activities.

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]]> 26.52050018310546875,-33.30849838256835938 Andile Dantsi started practicing art as a hobby. He makes art by recycling plastic bags, bottles, paper, sand and other material. He also engages in community service by teaching school children how to draw art and assists the community by doing signwriting.

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]]> 26.91785049438476562,-33.19480895996093750 This group comprises fifteen primary school girls who are trained in traditional dances as a way of maintaining cultural tradition of the Ndlambe villages within the Fish river area. 
The girls are also mentored in life skills and good childhood qualities. With the potential of tourism to increase in the area, the cultural group is also set to grow in numbers

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]]> 26.91785049438476562,-33.16321182250976562 Ratase Nkotobe makes various bead jewellery for both males and females in the form of earrings, necklaces, waist beads, bangles, and other traditional pieces for traditional dances. She also trains a dance group of young primary school children who provide cultural entertainment during village ceremonies and festivals. Ratase intends to increase her girl dance group numbers with the potential prospects of tourism in the area.

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]]> 26.91774940490722656,-33.16323852539062500 Lumka Ngamtwini trains various ladies in the village in sewing as a form of income generating activity. Various sewing products such as aprons, dresses, jerseys, are designed and produced by this group of women.

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]]> 26.91777992248535156,-33.16328048706054688 This trust is one of the six development agencies that was established by the King Sandile Development Trust. The Mhala Development Trust is founded on identifying heritage tourism as an area of potential economic growth and development. The trust has trained tour and field guides who take day visitors to the various scenic areas of the route. The longer term objective of the trust is to provide overnight accommodation for visitors and the development of overnight accommodation and a wider range of facilities (hiking, and gorse back trails).

The trust is also at an advanced stage of applying for funding for arts and craft development, agricultural projects, and the development of other heritage sites they have identified with the support of Rhodes University (Grahamstown).

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]]> 26.87304687500000000,-33.37971115112304688 Nomzamo Special Care Centre was established in 2006 and provides care and education for thirty children of various ages who have physical or mental handicaps. These children are trained in joinery, dressmaking, beading, carpentry, and the cultivation of small gardens for nutritional supplements for the children’s home. They currently have a craft shop on their premises that sells various arts and craft to the nearby Peddie town.

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]]> 27.13264083862304688,-33.20946884155273438 This dance group was founded on the principle of culture preservation. In 2003 a group of school children were trained in cultural dance techniques that were performed at historical ceremonies in the villages.

This dance group has grown from strength to strength and is supervised by an elderly woman who has a strong historical knowledge of the village and its predecessors.

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]]> 27.07142066955566406,-33.25244140625000000 Situated in the Joza Location of Grahamstown, this B&B offers accommodation at affordable rates to travellers and tourists. The facility provides traditional meals in a homely setting and offers one the opportunity to explore the Grahamstown township of Joza.

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]]> 26.55480003356933594,-33.29045867919921875 17 on Stevenson is an Art/Coffee shop incorporating ethnic crafts and work of local artists.  The coffee shop runs from Thorold’s Treasure, a historic home built in 1896 overlooking Ladysmith towards Umbulwane.

The house has two self catering units for the budget conscious traveller who after a long day can relax in the extensive gardens and plan activities for the next day. The art/coffee shop is close the CBD and main shopping centres of Ladysmith.

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