Cultural Route Of Mossel Bay - Garden Route, South Africa

The arrival of Bartolomeu Dias was witnessed by a group of people who had inhabited the Mossel Bay area since ancient times - the Khoi-San. It would be almost a decade later before friendly bartering for cattle would occur between these hunters, gatherers and herders and Vasco da Gama - the beginning of an harmonious lifestyle that has now spanned centuries.

After Dias and Da Gama, more visitors were coming to know the stop-over the early seafarers called "Aguada de Sao Bras", meaning "the watering place of St Blaize" - the French possibly as early as 1507, the English and the Dutch. In 1601, a Hollander named Paulus van Cearden sailed home from the East in command of two ships. He wrote in his journal that he anchored in a beautiful bay without many trees, but with deer and elephant. Apart from fresh water, they got little refreshments except mussels on the rocks and therefore he named it Mossel Bay!

After a few hesitant explorations into the Outeniqualand, the Dutch only really became interested in Mossel Bay in the second quarter of the 18th century. The practical reasons that drove the Free Burgers into the hinterland were mainly the need for new grazing and an urge to escape the bureaucracy at the Cape. Free Burger families like the Mullers and the Meyers were some of the first to settle in the Mossel Bay area.

Early scientifically-minded visitors came this way too, enthralled by the variety of plant and animal life. Even shipwreck survivors stayed on in Mossel Bay, and many of them became famous town characters. Today, the colourful Mossel Bay community number about 65 000, of which some have a history in this area spanning centuries.

Appropriately, Mossel Bay's Cultural Route starts at the Cape St. Blaize Cave at the Point. The indigenous folk found shelter in this cave, which was also a superb look-out point. Artifacts found in the cave recently date back between 70 000 and 120 000 years ago.

The next stop-over is the local Culture Museum, which houses many implements, photographs and artifacts of the early history of Mossel Bay, as well as an exhibition of artifacts of the ancient Khoi-San.

The road leads to the Lazaretto Cemetery close to the sea, where the oldest decipherable gravestone dates 1809, and from there to the Malay Graves - discovered in 1968, not far from the Old Post Office Tree. Records show that a piece of land had been granted more than 100 years before as burial ground for Muslims. Tarka Township is the next cultural jewel - dating back to 1898. The houses are from stone dug up in the area and clay and sand were used instead of cement. Many of the Mossel Bay characters had their roots there.

One can also follow the scenes of Mossel Bay's dark side of the past such as a brutal murder, a disappearance cum hanging in the course of justice, the "ghost lady" of the harbour and various shipwreck disasters, along the popular "Crime and Disaster" Walking route.

On a lighter note, the popular Poort Winery just outside Mossel Bay is the perfect venue to sample one of the most enjoyable cultural assets of the local area - excellent wine cultivars.

More info about Cultural Route of Mossel Bay: http://www.visitmosselbay.co.za