Gqeberha is the name that Port Elizabeth took in 2021, an isiXhosa word usually linked to the Gqeberha River, the stream that runs into Algoa Bay. The change still divides opinion, and you will hear both names on the street, but the city that carries them is the same big, breezy, workmanlike place on the Eastern Cape coast. It forms the heart of the Nelson Mandela Bay metropolitan area, with a car industry that has employed generations, a port, and a waterfront of long pale beaches that seem to go on forever.
For riders on Route 62, it is the far end of one of the great long-distance roads in South Africa. The route runs inland from Cape Town through the Little Karoo, a dry valley of red hills and fruit farms between two mountain ranges, passing Montagu, Barrydale, Ladismith and Oudtshoorn, then crosses the Langkloof and drops to the coast. Along the way are ostrich farms, roadside stalls selling dried fruit and rusks, and the famous pub at Ronnie's Sex Shop, a bar in the middle of nowhere that has built a legend on a hand-painted sign. The distance is about eight hundred and fifty kilometers, so most people take two or three days.
The riding is varied and mostly relaxed. There are long straight stretches in the Karoo with views that stretch to the horizon, and sections through mountain passes, such as the Tradouw and Meiringspoort, with tight, sweeping bends and sheer cliffs. The surface is generally good, and traffic is moderate outside school holidays. Summer is hot, with temperatures that can reach above forty degrees inland, while winter brings cold mornings and occasional snow on the high peaks. Wind on the coast can be fierce.
Gqeberha has every service a rider needs. Fuel stations, motorcycle dealers and mechanics are plentiful, and the city has a good restaurant scene, with seafood and braai well represented. The Donkin Reserve, a hilltop park with a lighthouse and a pyramid, gives a view over the harbor and makes a pleasant place to sit after a long ride.
Before heading home, it is worth a short run to Addo Elephant National Park, about an hour north, where herds of elephants cross the road on a regular basis. Keep your distance and your engine quiet.