We left Knysna today still heading west along the southern coast of South Africa heading for our first stop at Mossel Bay, named by the Dutch in the late 16th Century, which means Bay of Mussels. Mossel Bay is the first place where a European (Bartolomeu Dias) landed in South Africa on Feb. 3, 1488. He was looking for a passage around the southern tip of Africa to India, as a means of bypassing the overland route through the middle east (which was both slower and more expensive for transport of goods).
Dias has sailed down the west coast of Africa and got blown off course to the southwest of the Cape of Good Hope (which at that time was unknown to Europeans). Eventually he was blown sufficiently to the southwest that the winds from Antarctica (which would remain undiscovered at least as far as we know for about 400 more years) pushed him east and somewhat north until he landed at Mossel Bay which he named Angra dos Vaqueiros (The Bay of Cowherds). Dias left Mossel Bay rather quickly when the native Kohe people pelted him with stones, although we have no description of the reason for this.
Dias eventually sailed some 300 miles further east to a spot today called Kraaihoek. He wanted to continue to India but his crew insisted on returning to Portugal. The name Bay of Cowherds was soon changed to Aguarda de São Brás, the Bay of Saint Blaise, since his feast day is the same day that Dias landed there.
The second Portuguese man to land at Mossel Bay, Vasco de Gama, arrived there some 9 years after Dias. Either he was better behaved, or the natives had been put on tranquilizers, as this meeting was friendlier and resulted in a successful cattle trade.
There is a museum complex (or rather several rather modest buildings and some pleasant grounds) at Mossel Bay. Since the area is part of the Garden Route, one of the buildings is devoted to the flora of the region.
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| Fynbos Display |
The other building is devoted to sailing and particularly to Dias. There is a replica of his boat that was built and sailed some 500 years after Dias’ voyage.
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| Dias Boat Replica |
The boat was built in Portugal and took some 3 months to get to Mossel Bay. Dias’ original journal took 6 months but his boat, unlike this one, did not have an auxiliary engine. Also, while the two vessels are said to have looked the same from the outside, the newer boat had electricity, bathrooms, sleeping quarters, and a kitchen in the space below the deck. The original boat had only storage below deck, with the crew braving the elements on the deck. Note also that there is no steering wheel on the boat, as that was not a feature of European sea vessels until sometime after Dias’ voyages. During his time, you simply pushed on a tiller attached to the boat’s rudder.
Other differences between this boat and Dias’ original:
- Dias’s crew consisted of 33 men, all Portuguese; this boat had eight South Africans and eight Portuguese, with a captain who was South African-Portuguese.
- The sails are made of Dacron, rather than the original canvas
- The ropes are made of nylon, rather than the original sisal
The complex also has the obligatory (I suppose) statue of Dias although I question whether he really carried a cross like that.
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| Dias Statue |
Also on the grounds is a sundial that is dedicated to Dias that was a gift at some time from the Rotary Club of Mossel Bay.
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| Sundial |
I’m not sure what the various other items around the edge of the sundial show but I know that the metadata for this photo shows it was taken at 10:41 South African Standard Time and that is quite close to the sundial time shown.
There are also pieces from a whale skeleton along the grass. It gives you some idea of the size of a whale, and I believe this particular whale was fairly small.
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| Partial Skeleton of Whale |
The grounds around the museums at Mossel Bay also hold a very large and old (reputedly over 600 years old) Milkwood Tree which is known as the Post Office Tree. The story goes: In 1501 Pedro d’Ataide, another Portuguese navigator, lost much of his fleet to a storm and set ashore in Mossel Bay. He left a report, addressed to another explorer, João da Nova, in a shoe suspended from this tree, near the spring, which was found by da Nova nearly 7 years later. Since that time, sailors going east would leave messages addressed to people back in Euope, and when sailors stopped here going home, they would take the letters to people who lived near where they were going. As befitting a tree of this area, it is quite spreading.
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| Post Office Tree - Full |
Yes, that is one tree and parts of it also spread beyond the left edge of the photo. You can go into the interior shaded part of the tree as well.
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| Post Office Tree Interior |
The authenticity of the tree, as opposed to the story, seems to be in some doubt as the signage near the tree tells the story of the Post Office Tree, notes it was near this location, and states “This may well be the same tree.” Ah, truth in signage.
As I have mentioned this area is still a major part of the Garden Route so it is fitting that several plants in the gardens around the museum are part of that community.
Not surprisingly, Cape Aloe (also known as the Bitter Aloe) can be used to make bitter aloe medication which is used as a laxative. It also can be used to make a gel useful in cosmetics. It is found both in the Garden Route area and in many surrounding areas as well.
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| Cape Aloe |
The twigs of the confetti plant are used by fishermen to remove fishy odors and it can also be rubbed on campers’ bedding as an insect repellent.
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| Confetti Plant |
One other curious fact about Mossel Bay is that most of the rain that occurs there is supposed to happen at night. This is contrary to the general rule that it tends to rain more (to some extent anyway) during the daytime. The difference in Mossel Bay leads one to wonder whether it could be the location of Camelot as we know, according to the song, “The rain may never fall till after sundown … in Camelot.”
Next it’s time to climb through the mountains that serve as the northern boundary of the Garden Route. There will be Ostriches, soon.
Link to Full Resolution Photos
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