Mossel Bay (5-8)

Friday afternoon I took a van/bus to Mossel Bay. Unfortunately, there was an accident on the road it took to Stellenbosch; so it was an hour and a half late. The trip took almost 4.5 hours; so I didn’t reach the guesthouse until 9:00. The first part of the ride went through more vineyards with mountains countryside. Then it went over some mountains, and then it was dark. I’d arranged with the guesthouse to be picked up but when I arrived at the drop off place, no one was there to meet me. That was a little disconcerting while I figured out what to do. Then a man approached me and identified himself as my driver. He had waited for 1.5 hours and then had to make another pick up and had just returned. It was really good to see him. The hotel receptionist was very glad to see me when I arrived, as was the woman in the morning. All had been concerned.

Saturday was a little cool and very windy with a little rain thrown in. A good day to visit the Bartholomew Diaz Museum. Mossel Bay was one of his last stops along the south African coast. 

The museum has a replica of his boat that actually made the trip from Portugal to Mossel Bay as part of the 500-year celebration of his trip. It took only three months rather than the six months that Diaz’s voyage had taken. Reading about it was a good reminder of the part Portugal played in early explorations and colonization. 

Another building has a shell museum that is also a small aquarium. The shell collection contains shells from all over the world and has many kinds I was not familiar with. 

One of the famous sites is the post office tree, which is a milkwood tree. Men would write letters and hang them and put them in a shoe that was hung in the tree. When the next ship came through, the men would take the letters back to Portugal.

After finishing at the museum, I found the tourist information center across the street. As in Stellenbosch, they have a nice map of the town. The woman was very helpful, which I had also experienced in Stellenbosch, and showed me how to walk back to the hotel (The woman at the desk had arranged a ride to the museum.) as well as recommending a few places to stop along the way. Mossel Bay has a number of 19^th century stone buildings that I enjoyed.

Back at the hotel, I relaxed in my room and then decided to take a short walk. The wind was fierce but not cold, and I enjoyed watching the fierce waves. Afterwards I came to a restaurant and decided to eat there. I chose the linefish: gurnard, a fish I was not familiar with but which was tasty. I learned that linefish is the fish they keep, throwing all others back and that it changes, sometimes weekly. The restaurant is advertised for its fine dining and is not the kind of restaurant I frequent, but I enjoyed the meal and the experience there.

Sunday morning the sky was blue and the sun was shining; however, the wind was still blowing but not as much as on Saturday. I had made an appointment to have a tour of the Point of Human Origins. This is a group of thirteen caves, the importance of which was discovered in 1997 and which have been excavated since 2000. Their location is in a cliff under a golf course. When the golf course and community were being approved, an archaeological survey was required, and the importance of the caves was realized as a result. The starting point of the tour to the open cave is at the golf course club house and the stairs descend down the cliff on which the golf course is located. It’s an interesting relationship. The golf course is required to protect the caves, and the caves are protected by the security of the gated community. In addition, without the building of the golf course and community, the archaeological importance would not have been discovered and they would not have learned all that they have learned through the excavation, which is conducted by Arizona State University.

It is believed that these caves contain the earliest evidence of modern human behavior, which includes composite tools, using ochre, and eating seafood. The caves contain the earliest evidence for stone blades that would have been used with spears. It has been determined that the relics date back 35,000 to 162,000 years. Many of these are lying on the ground outside the caves. 

The guides keep a collection of good examples to show visitors. It was awesome to see these outside a museum case and to hold a few. 

He also showed me a piece of ochre, which I hadn’t seen before, and demonstrated how it was/is used for cave paintings as well as covering the skin. 

We went into one cave on ground level and a higher one that has stairs leading to it. 

The cave walls have stone tools and shells embedded in them. The layers of relics from over the years are one to three meters deep. The floors are covered with layers of sandbags to protect them between excavations.

At the time, the sea was 50 to 100 km farther out and there were grasslands outside the caves. The guide explained that the caves were in use for about 100,000 years and were later sealed shut for about 50,000 years by sand that was blown in. He pointed out fossilized sand dunes in the cave as well as on the cliff.

This was a fascinating and awesome experience. In addition to the cave experience, the coast was beautiful.

In the afternoon, I walked along the coast and up the cliff near the hotel. Since it was such a beautiful day, the views were spectacular. 

The top of the cliff was a good place to sit quietly and enjoy the sound and sight of the sea.

Dinner: fresh fish—hake, which is common here and in Namibia—and mussels. Instead of choosing fries or salad, it was possible to have half of each, which was perfect. More places should offer that option.