Situated 72 kilometres north of Port Elizabeth, Shamwari is a private game reserve on 18 000 ha of countryside steeped in history. Dwellings from the early 1800's have been restored to their original style and a multitude of animal species have been returned to their rightful place in the Eastern Cape valley bushveld. Shamwari lies in a malaria free area. The region boasts 4 of the world's 26 biomes or major vegetation units such as the fynbos, grassland, nama-Karoo and Tongoland biomes. The 7 ecosystems enable the reserve to host an incredible variety of animals and birds. One of the Reserve's projects has been to re-introduce the very rare and endangered black rhino, extinct in the Eastern Cape since 1853. Game that you may encounter are: white rhino, elephant, buffalo, lion, giraffe, hippo, black rhino, zebra, black and blue wildebeest, common and black springbok, blesbok, red hartebeest, gemsbok, eland, kudu and bushbuck. At night you may encounter the aardvark, leopard, aardwolf, caracal, genet or cape grysbok. There are over 200 varieties of raptors and birds, from the majestic marshall eagle, to the greater double-collared sunbird.