East London is a city in the Eastern Cape province on the south-east coast of South Africa. The city has a population of more than 750,000 people in the broader metropolitan area and is renowned for being South Africa’s only river port.
East London was found in 1836 and was originally known as Port Rex. Much of the city’s early development was down to the growth of the port, which served as a supply port for the British Settlers in their military skirmishes in the mid-19th century with the local Xhosa inhabitants. History has repeated itself in that the port has also seen significant recent expansion, including the construction of a dedicated car-loading terminal, as international motor vehicle giant Mercedes Benz have invested heavily in their production facilities adjacent to the harbour where they manufacture vehicles for export to the United States, Brazil and other markets.
Located on one of the most beautiful stretches of coastline in the country and being the largest city close to the unspoiled coastal paradise of the Wild Coast provides a wide range of activities for tourists to the area. East London has a number of popular beaches – Nahoon, Orient, Gonubie and Eastern Beaches – all offering great surfing, swimming, dolphin-watching and sun-bathing.
The East London Aquarium, Anne Bryant Art Gallery, East London Museum and Mpongo Park Private Game Reserve all provide options for when you want to a break from the beach.
Sport is a big part of life in East London, and aside from having teams competing nationally in the traditional Big 3 sports – rugby, soccer and cricket – the city is known as the home of the famous Ironman 70.3 competition which takes place in January every year. This gruelling event consists of a 1.9km swim, 90 km cycle and 21.1 km road run and starts and finishes at Orient Beach.
