• Wildlife in Sommerset West

Useful information on the Somerset East area

Somerset East is situated in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. It forms part of the Blue Crane Route municipal area, together with the towns of Pearston and Cookhouse. Somerset East is positioned strategically at the midpoint of three National Parks (about an hour's drive from each); the Camdeboo National Park, Mountain Zebra National Park, and the Addo Elephant National Park. Somerset East is a malaria free area.

Although Somerset East is a small town, you should be able to get most provisions in town. The town has a number of shops, including a Spar & USave (supermarkets), a couple of liquor stores, and clothing stores. Most shops are open from around 8:30am and close at 5:00pm on weekdays. They are open from around 9:00am to 1:00pm on Saturdays, but most shops are closed on Sundays and Public Holidays. The Spar is open from 7:00am to 7:00pm daily (except on Christmas day and Boxing day). The Fly shop at the Angler and Antelope is opened by arrangement, any time within reason, Sundays included.

There are four banks on town (Standard Bank, First National Bank, Absa Bank & Capitec), operating on standard South African banking hours, except that some of them close their offices between 1:00pm and 2:00pm on weekdays. Capitec Bank does have longer hours, closing at 5:00pm and is open on some Public Holidays. There are, however, several ATM's around town which operate 24-hours a day.

Some filling stations operate from 6:30am to 10:00pm daily, but there is one that operates 24-hours per day in the town of Somerset East. There is also a 24-hour filling station in Cookhouse, 24km from Somerset East.

For up to date weather reports for Somerset East, click here to go to the Golf Weather site.