Seasons by city

The year in East London

East London, at the mouth of the Buffalo River, is a city of rivers, estuaries and coastal bush on the edge of the Wild Coast.

Biome Indian Ocean coastal belt
Rain Summer rain
Altitude about 30 m
Rainfall about 850 mm a year
Province Eastern Cape

Where the year begins

The climate is mild all year. Rain falls in every season, more of it in summer, and the sea keeps winters gentle.

The Indian Ocean coastal belt is a warm, humid strip of coastal forest, grassland and dunes along the east coast, green for most of the year.

What summer rain means here

Most of the year's rain falls between October and March, often in afternoon thunderstorms, and winter is the dry season.

Keep outdoor lessons to the morning in summer, when storms are least likely, and treat the first big storm of spring as an event to mark together. Winter is the long, dry season for walks, fires and gathering seed.

The turning points of 2027

Dates are in South African time. Sunrise, sunset and daylight are worked out for East London's rounded location.

Solstices and equinoxes in 2027, with sunrise, sunset and daylight in East London
Turning point	Sunrise	Sunset	Daylight
Autumn equinoxSaturday 20 March 2027	06:11	18:19	12 h 9 min
Midwinter, the shortest dayMonday 21 June 2027	07:11	17:09	9 h 58 min
Spring equinoxThursday 23 September 2027	05:57	18:05	12 h 8 min
Midsummer, the longest dayWednesday 22 December 2027	04:56	19:16	14 h 20 min

Summer: December, January, February

Warm and humid, with afternoon showers. Estuaries are good for watching crabs and wading birds at low tide, with an adult within arm's reach of every child near the water.

First signs to watch for

First litchis
Warm sea
Longest day
Mangoes ripe
Ghost crabs at dusk
Frangipani scent

Warm, sticky days, with heavy afternoon showers and a steamy smell afterwards

In the evening sky

On 22 December 2027, midsummer, the longest day, at about 20:31: the moon is waning crescent, 25 percent lit, not yet up, and the Southern Cross is low in the south. Planets: Saturn, high in the north-west; Venus, low in the west. For early risers: Jupiter before dawn in the north-east.

Also up: The Small Magellanic Cloud, high in the south; The Large Magellanic Cloud, high in the south; Grus, the Crane, halfway up in the south-west.

On the nature table

Turquoise silk for the warm sea, with a strip of pale sand-coloured cotton for the beach, with a small piece of driftwood from an open beach, never a marine reserve; a shell from the family's own collection; fallen frangipani or other garden flowers; a mango stone, washed and dried.

Safety this season

On midsummer's day the sun is highest at 12:06, 80 degrees above the horizon, so a child's shadow almost disappears at noon; keep the hours around it for shade, hats, sunscreen and water.
Snakes are about in the warm months: stay on paths, look where you step, and leave any snake alone.
Ticks are in the long grass now: check arms, legs and hair afterwards.

Festivals

Midsummer Festival on Wednesday 22 December 2027; Christmas on Saturday 25 December 2027 (Christian).

Three things to do outside

Shelling on the Stoep

Practical life, 30 minutes

Sitting together in the shade of the stoep, your child pops green peas out of their pods in spring or rubs dry kernels off mealie cobs in autumn, counting as they go.

Dry mealie kernels are small and hard. Keep them out of the reach of babies and toddlers, who can choke on them.

The Cupped Hands Relay

Game, 30 minutes

A cooling game for a hot summer morning. Players scoop water from a bucket in their cupped hands and race to pour it into a jar at the far end, seeing how many trips it takes to fill it.

Water: an adult stays within arm's reach of every child near water, the whole time.
An adult stays within arm's reach of the buckets for the whole game, and empties them as soon as it ends. A small child can drown in very little water.

Mud and Clay Kitchen

Building, 30 minutes

Digging, mixing and shaping mud and clay outside: pots, pies, bricks and snakes.

Water: an adult stays within arm's reach of every child near water, the whole time.
Keep only a small amount of water in the bucket and empty it at the end. Even shallow water needs an adult nearby.

Autumn: March, April, May

Settled weather and calm seas make this a good season for walks along the shore and in the coastal bush.

First signs to watch for

Swallows gathering at dusk
Turaco seen in flight
Swallows gone
First cool evening
First dry week
Cooler nights

Wild banana (Strelitzia nicolai) flowers like blue and white birds among the big leaves

In the evening sky

On 20 March 2027, autumn equinox, at about 19:34: the moon is waxing gibbous, 96 percent lit, halfway up in the north-east, and the Southern Cross is halfway up in the south-east. Planets: Jupiter, halfway up in the north-east; Mars, halfway up in the north-east. For early risers: Mercury before dawn in the east; Venus before dawn in the east.

Also up: Canis Major and Sirius, almost overhead in the north-west; Carina and Canopus, high in the south; The Large Magellanic Cloud, high in the south.

On the nature table

Soft sea-green cotton with a fold of pale gold for the calmer, clearer days, with seed pods and fallen leaves from garden trees; a small piece of driftwood from an open beach; feathers found on a walk; dry grass or reed stems from your own garden.

Safety this season

At the autumn equinox the midday sun, at 12:15, still stands 57 degrees high and burns quickly, so hats stay on and the late afternoon becomes the pleasant time to be out.
Snakes are about in the warm months: stay on paths, look where you step, and leave any snake alone.
Ticks are in the long grass now: check arms, legs and hair afterwards.

Festivals

Autumn Harvest Festival on Saturday 20 March 2027; Easter on Sunday 28 March 2027 (Christian); Freedom Day Family Stories on Tuesday 27 April 2027.

Three things to do outside

Autumn Seed Walk

Nature walk, 45 minutes

A slow autumn walk to gather the seeds, pods and winged fruits that plants are letting go of, then sorting them at home for the nature table.

Some seeds and berries are poisonous, such as syringa berries and castor oil seeds. Your child gathers but never puts seeds in the mouth, and everyone washes hands afterwards.

Roman Numerals From Sticks and Hands

Game, 20 minutes

Laying the Roman numerals one to twelve with straight sticks, after finding them first in the hand: one finger for I, the open hand for V, two hands crossed for X.

Use sticks without thorns or splinters, and keep the ends low and away from faces.

A Stick and Grass Hut

Building, 120 minutes

Over two or three autumn afternoons your child builds a small hut from long sticks and bundles of dry grass, layering the grass from the bottom up so that it sheds the rain.

Snakes rest in long grass, even as the weather cools. The adult cuts the grass, wearing boots and long trousers, and makes plenty of noise while working. Check everyone for ticks when you finish.

Winter: June, July, August

Mild and mostly dry. The sardine run passes up the Wild Coast in some winters, with dolphins and diving gannets offshore.

First signs to watch for

Sardine run
First whale spout
Dune aloes flowering
Coral tree in flower
Gannets diving
First spring rain

Coral trees flowering bright red on bare branches

In the evening sky

On 21 June 2027, midwinter, the shortest day, at about 19:00: the moon is waning gibbous, 94 percent lit, not yet up, and the Southern Cross is high in the south. Planets: Mars, halfway up in the north-west; Jupiter, halfway up in the north-west. For early risers: Saturn before dawn in the north-east.

Also up: Centaurus and the Pointers, almost overhead in the south; Carina and Canopus, halfway up in the south-west; Scorpius, halfway up in the east.

On the nature table

Deep blue silk for the sea, with a strip of yellow-orange cotton for the dune aloes on the shore, with a small piece of driftwood from an open beach; a shell from the family's own collection; fallen coral tree flowers from a garden tree; a small potted aloe.

Safety this season

On the shortest day the sun reaches only 34 degrees, at 12:10, and midday shadows are long, but it still burns; cold mornings mean water play waits for a warmer day.

Festivals

Midwinter Lantern Evening on Monday 21 June 2027; Women's Day on Monday 9 August 2027.

Three things to do outside

Sweeping the Yard

Practical life, 30 minutes

In the cool of an autumn or winter morning your child sweeps fallen leaves with a small grass broom, carries them to the compost heap and looks at the patterns the broom leaves in the earth.

Sweep in shoes. Devil thorns and other small thorny burrs hide in dry leaves and bare earth, especially in the dry months.

A Month of Moons

Sky watching, 15 minutes

Stepping outside each clear evening for a month to look at the moon and draw its shape in a little moon diary, watching it grow round and then wane away.

Look in the early evening, before bedtime. The new crescent shows low in the west just after sunset, so begin a few days after new moon.

A Number Hunt Outside

Nature walk, 20 minutes

A slow walk in the garden, the park or the veld to find the numbers in the world: one sun, two wings, three leaves on a stem, five petals, six legs on an insect. Each find is collected or remembered, never counted for speed.

Look but do not touch bees, wasps, spiders or caterpillars. Look closely from a little way off.

Spring: September, October, November

Coral trees flower red along the coast, and the bush is loud with birds building nests.

First signs to watch for

Swallows back
Weavers building
Hiccup-nut flowering
First summer thunderstorm
Frogs calling after rain
Flamboyant in flower

Frogs calling loudly after rain

In the evening sky

On 23 September 2027, spring equinox, at about 19:20: the moon is last quarter, 47 percent lit, not yet up, and the Southern Cross is halfway up in the south-west. Planets: Mars, halfway up in the west. For early risers: Saturn before dawn in the north-west.

Also up: Sagittarius and the Teapot, almost overhead in the north-west; Scorpius, high in the west; Pavo, the Peacock, high in the south.

On the nature table

Bright green cotton with a scrap of orange-red felt for the hiccup-nut flowers, with strips of grass and fallen twigs for weavers' nests; fallen flowers from a garden Natal plum; fallen leaves and seed pods; a feather found on a walk.

Safety this season

By the spring equinox the midday sun is back up at 57 degrees, at 12:00, and UV climbs quickly towards October, so bring the hats out before the heat arrives.
Bees are busy with the spring flowers: walk calmly past hives and flowering trees.

Festivals

Spring Festival of Blossoms on Thursday 23 September 2027; Heritage Day on Friday 24 September 2027; First Rains Festival on Monday 25 October 2027; Diwali on Monday 1 November 2027 (Hindu), a date that moves; check locally.

Three things to do outside

Dawn Bird Calls

Nature walk, 40 minutes

Getting up just before sunrise to walk quietly and listen to the birds waking, learning one or two calls by ear and ending with a warm drink as the sun comes up.

Walk on pavements and garden paths you know well, as the light is low. Hold small hands near any road or driveway.

A Hopping Game in the Dust

Game, 30 minutes

Your child scratches a ladder of numbered squares into bare earth with a stick, tosses a flat stone and hops up and back, counting aloud. Nothing is needed but a stick, a stone and a patch of ground.

Sweep the patch clear of thorns, devil thorn burrs and sharp stones before you draw, and play in shoes in the dry months.

Planting Beans

Garden, 30 minutes

Planting and caring for a row of beans in a garden bed or a big tin, and watching them come up.

Raw dry beans are not for eating. Keep the seed packet or bag up high.

Places to walk

East London Museum

Home of the first coelacanth known to science, caught off the coast in 1938: a fish once thought to have vanished long ago.

Nahoon Point Nature Reserve

Dunes, rocky shore and coastal forest where the Nahoon River meets the sea.

Gonubie Nature Reserve

A small wetland reserve known for its birds.

Where these facts come from

Biome, rainfall regime, solstices, equinoxes, sunrise, sunset, the midday sun and the evening sky are computed by Selemo's season engine for East London at 33.00 degrees south, 27.90 degrees east, rounded to about 5 km, using Meeus's astronomical algorithms and the NOAA solar equations.
Biome names follow the national vegetation map of South Africa (Mucina and Rutherford); first signs, the nature table and festivals come from Selemo's seasons library, version 1; activities come from Selemo's activity library, chosen by the Outdoor Matcher for a typical clear morning in each season after the safety rules; altitude and rainfall are rounded long-term figures, being checked against South African Weather Service climate data.

Registering for home education in Eastern Cape

Your year in East London

Selemo works all this out for your own home in East London and shapes your week around it.

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