Situated
in the southern Cape area of South Africa, Mosselbaai is one of the most
beautiful coastal towns on the Garden Route. Long known as a quaint little
fishing village waking up only at the start of the 'season' - when just
about everyone from the interior would converge on the seaside for
Christmas and the New Year celebrations - Mosselbaai has now grown into an
all year round friendly holiday haven. First-class accommodation, shops
crammed with curios and souvenirs, and mod cons to rival any found in the
First World contrast delightfully with bare feet and vendors selling their
wares on sidewalks in easy-going Africa mode. Structures built from
dressed sandstone dating from the early days of the town stand side by
side with modern architecture - some of outstanding quality, others not so
much so. And the weather is tailormade to melt away those winter woes.
Also
(incorrectly) known as Mossel Bay, the name Mosselbaai literally means
"Bay of Mussels." Unfortunately most of these mussels are now
gone, but the town is still famous for its sole, and no visit would be
complete without tasting this delicious fish at any of the fine
restaurants in the area. But the "Mossel Bay" with its miles of
beaches along the Indian Ocean, spectacular views of the Outeniqua
Mountains and lively seal colony is not our only claim-to-fame. The area
also has a rich archaeological and cultural history dating back about 350
thousand years. For more information on this, a visit to the Museum
Complex is a definitive must!
Due
to its rich history, there are many museums in the town to visit, there is
the Maritime Museum which focuses on the sailing and ships of the early
days of discovery, it is home to the impressive life-size replica of
Bartolomeu Dias's caravel, the ship in which he sailed into Mossel Bay in
the year 1488. It also displays ship models of a bygone era, 
route maps to
the East. The Granery is another museum which has a permanent display of
fresh specimens of wild flowers found in this region, and a good selection
of photographs of the many mountain passes that link the coastal area to
the Little Karoo. The Shell Museum houses a very large collection of
shells, and demonstrates how they were used by man through the years as
tools etc. The Cultural History Museum has many and varied artefacts of
historical importance from the area covering various periods in history.
Many of these museums were developed within some of the historical
buildings in the town, but there are others, such as the Shirley
Buildings, the Munrohoek Cottages and many others which may be visited.
One of the most popular attractions is the Post Office Tree, which is
estimated to be more than 800 years old and has been declared a National
Monument. It is underneath this milkwood tree where Pedro d'Ataide left a letter in 1500 in a seaman's
boot for passing ships. Letters are
still posted there today in a seaman's boot!
Mossel
Bay is sportsman's and waters sport enthusiast's paradise, it has a very
wide variety of adventure sports facilities as well as sport of the
conventional type, such as golf, squash, tennis, bungee and bridge
diving, indoor heated pools, horse riding to name but a few. And if you're
into water sports, there is some of the countries most adrenalin induced
activities available - such as, shark cage diving, ship wreck diving, snorkeling,
power boating and others.
