Where to Stay in East London, Eastern Cape

What is East London known for?

At the mouth of the Buffalo River on the Indian Ocean coast of South Africa, it grew as the only river harbour in the land, and it keeps the coelacanth in its museum, the only such fish ever kept, the long ocean beaches along the shore, the busy port on the river, and the road up to the Wild Coast beyond. The warm sea rolls onto the sand. Waves break along the shore.

What are the main landmarks in East London?

The coelacanth is the pride of East London. The famous living-fossil fish, netted off the coast in nineteen thirty-eight and thought long extinct, rests in the city museum, the emblem of the town, downtown. A river runs to the sea.

The Buffalo River carries the only river port in the land through the city, while the ocean beaches, the old museum, and the Wild Coast mark the country around East London.

What is the history of East London?

East London grew around a river mouth. The British opened a port at the mouth of the Buffalo in the eighteen-fifties, the only river harbour in the country, and named it for the great city in England. German settlers came soon after.

Soldiers of a German legion were settled on the land around, and their names still mark the towns of the district. A strange fish made the town famous. In nineteen thirty-eight a fisherman off the coast netted a coelacanth, a fish thought dead for millions of years, and the town's museum keeps it still.

The sea drew visitors too. Its long beaches and mild coast made East London a seaside resort, and the road north opened the Wild Coast to travelers, so the city kept its port, its beaches, and its fish. The waves still roll onto the sand.

East London keeps its river port on the Eastern Cape coast.

Where is East London?

East London lies on the coast of the Eastern Cape in South Africa, at the mouth of the Buffalo River. The city sits on green hills above the water where the Buffalo runs into the Indian Ocean, in a land of beaches and bush, with the long shore stretching north and south and the Wild Coast rolling away to the northeast. The river runs out to the sea.

Green hills back the shore.

What is the climate of East London?

East London has a mild, humid coastal climate. Warm summers and gentle winters cross the coast, with rain through the year and warm currents that soften the air. The sea keeps the air mild.

Rain falls in every season.

How do you get to East London?

East London lies on the Eastern Cape coast of South Africa, on the road and rail between the Cape and Durban. The coast road and the railway run to it from the west, and flights land from Johannesburg. Trains reach the river port.

Durban lies up the coast to the northeast.