I live in Uitenhage a town in NMB just outside Port Elizabeth where I work.  I quite like it (I’m a small town girl like that). I like going for trips and knowing I get to come home to the jacaranda trees, neighbours I know by name and a community safe enough to take walks in (most of the time-I mean a woman did lose her arm to a dog not to long ago and I was mugged in town years ago).
As much as I like living in Uitenhage I will admit that us “town’s folk” have one annoying pastime; complaining that there is nothing to do!
 So I for one am very glad to be seeing all the progress in the last few years or so. Shops, markets, spas and so forth are popping up all over the place and we even have a McDonald’s now (only people from Uitenhage will get what a big deal that is…driving for an hour for a R10 pack of fries is now a thing of the past, hehe).
But in all seriousness it’s really nice to see the town I love grow like this…yes we have a long way to go, but I chose to be a glass half full kind of girl…

With this in mind I thought I’d feature some of my favourite places in Uitenhage, starting with a newish coffee shop, Bella’s.

What I liked:
– It’s an awesome place to take your kids (Uitenhage doesn’t have much of that to be honest)
– The food it good (steak salad FTW) and they are not pricey (you all know I’m not about pricey)
– The service was friendly and prompt (even though they were quite full when we went and we had to wait – I don’t mind as long as servers tell me what’s going on and are nice about it…hate when restaurants act like they are doing you a favour)
– Aidan had a blast and we felt at home
– Diverse clientele (This part of the Eastern Cape can be kind of racist so any place where everyone feels comfortable gets a thumbs up in my book.)
– They are half gift shop… You can buy anything from photo frames and sweets to clothes and accessories (great when you are running late to the shops; “Do we stop for lunch or buy aunt so and so a gift?” why not do both, hehehe)
– You can host kids parties, baby showers and the like there
– They seem to be working on covering the play area which is great because the sun in Uitenhage does not play

What I didn’t like so much:
–  A plug near play area (very easy to fix though-a plug cover and we are good to go)
–  You can’t get into the sand pit area without getting on all fours so retrieving a kid is not so easy

So all in all they get a thumbs up from me and Aidan, we are taking Rob soon so will know his opinion soon enough (he mostly cares about the food to be honest)