Mossel Bay
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Mossel Bay (Mosselbaai in Afrikaans) lies on the southern coast of South Africa, east of the Cape of Good Hope and west of Humansdorp. It lies on the Indian Ocean coast and is part of the Garden Route.
Portuguese explorer Bartholomeu Diaz arrived here on February 3, 1488, thus proving to his sponsors that Africa had a southern tip; making it theoretically possible to sail from Europe to India. Originally called by Diaz Aguada de São Brás (Bay of Saint Blaise), the village/harbour was renamed Mosselbaai (Bay of Mussels) in 1601 by Dutch navigator Paulus van Caerden, as he found the bay to be abundant with mussels. He also called a nearby bay, where he found cattle herders, Vlees Bay (Bay of Meat).
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[edit] History
Nomadic Khoisan people were the first inhabitants of the Mossel Bay area. A cave in which the remains of a Khoisan settlement have been found is now a national monument and the starting point of a walking trail to the nearby town of Dana Bay. A Khoisan cultural village is also located at the cave, but has been criticised for being "commercial". Other tribes also lived in the area, including the Gouriquas. Certain traditional leaders have asked that the town be renamed "Gouriqua".
The first contact between Southern Africans and Europeans took place in Mossel Bay in 1488 between Diaz and the Khoisan, on Santos Beach, now also called "Madiba" beach after former president Nelson Mandela. The meeting was peaceful and both sides were willing to trade. Diaz erected a cross, and called the bay Aguada de São Brás, as they landed on the festival day of Saint Blaise.
The first trading between inhabitants of Europe and Southern African was in 1497 between Vasco da Gama and the local Khoi-San tribe. In the following years, Portuguese sailors would use the Bay as a halfway station where the Khoi-San offered them food. A small stream was used for fresh water.
A large milkwood served as a post office with Pedro de Ataide's 1500 posting of an important letter in a shoe under the tree. Important letters would be left in a shoe and picked up by later ships.
In 1500 or 1501 João da Nova erected the Mossel Bay Stone, which marked a chapel dedicated to Saint Blaise.
The first settlers were granted land in Mossel Bay in 1729, 77 years after the Dutch settled in Cape Town.
[edit] Diaz Museum Complex
The Diaz Museum Complex marks the spot of the historical landing of Diaz. The 500 year old Post Office Tree, a national monument, can still be seen at the site, now harbouring a post box shaped as a shoe.
The original Mossel Bay Stone has been moved to the National Cultural History Museum of South Africa, but a cast is in the collection of the Diaz Museum.
Also located in the complex are the remnants of the spring used by sailors, although the stream now flows underground.
The Maritime Museum houses a replica of the caravel on which Diaz arrived. The caravel arrived in Mossel Bay in 1987, a gift from the Government of Portugal. Another highlight is a map of Mossel Bay produced by early Dutch sailor, Cornelius de Houtman in 1595. The Museum is housed in the old Saw Mill Building.
The Granary (now the entrance to the complex) includes an exhibition on the cultural life of coloured communities in Mossel Bay during apartheid. The Shirley Building hosts the shell museum and a small aquarium including a 476 kg great white shark caught of the coast of nearby Hartenbos. Munroshoek in the complex includes the oldest houses in town. Recently, the building in which a Cultural History Museum was housed for many years was sold and became a private arts centre.
[edit] Facts
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Mossel Bay has the second mildest all-year climate in the world. The first is Hawaii.
[edit] External links
- Mossel Bay Municipality – The official website of the town and municipality.
- Mossel Bay Tourism – The website of the official tourism bureau.
- www.southerncape.co.za/towns/mosselbaai/ – A non-tourism look at the town and its history.
- www.gardenroute.net/mby/ – A tourism site containing concise historical information.
[edit] Bibliography
- Tourists' Guide Greater Mossel Bay (Compiled by Marie Sweetnam), vol. 1, Oct. 1997
