Mossel Bay, our "home away from home"

Mossel Bay harbor

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     Mossel Bay is our base here in South Africa.  Carlene, my high school pal, has welcomed us into her home and we are exploring near and far.  We have even begun to fall into that laid back, slowed down lifestyle of the people here.  Might as well, there is only  s l o w and  s  l  o  w  e  r!  :)  Last night we went down to the point to have pizza on the terrace as we watched surfers, boogie boarders and little kids play in the water.  We stayed til sunset, mesmerized by the sea.  Some of the surfers are unreal!  Many are so young and yet so good already!

     Mossel Bay is an Afrikaans' town -- a tourist destination for six weeks over the winter holidays (deep summer) when the town swells by 150,000.  Sound familiar?  There is a lovely bay with a seal island and therefore, many great white sharks.  The Indian Ocean is just off "the point" where the waves cross and present spectacular surfing opportunities (if you forget about the great whites).   Carlene and I are going to take a helicopter to view the great whites -- apparently that is the best way to actually see them, looking down upon them.  I can't wait!  Denny says he doesn't trust man-made connivances.   

Carlene's home

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     Carlene's home is situated two blocks from the point and within walking distance to everything.  The views out her deck are sensational.  If only we were here during the whale season!!!  But still, there is much to do and see in this season, early fall.  There is a four hour walk along the cliffs that we will do Thursday.  Wednesday we are going to the mountains to see more passes, the ostrich farms, and the Cango Park with both animals and spectacular caves.   Supposedly we will be able to pet cheetahs and see some white lions.

     Denny and I particularly loved the Dias Museum here in Mossel Bay.  We spent hours roaming the grounds and reading the displays.  In 1986 Lisbon and Mossel Bay joined forces to build a replica of the ship in which Dias sailed to South Africa, a joint crew sailed it here in three months (the original voyage took 6) and the town held a huge festival for the 500th anniversary.  They brought the ship on land and built a museum around it.  It is a great museum complex honoring explorers, sailors, the sea, and sea life.  The message for saving our oceans is strong.  Huge tortoises roam the complex grounds, birds abound.  What a fun day!

Dias Museum grounds

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     Another day we went to the Botlierskop Private Game Reserve which is only a half hour away.  It seems that rich people buy up land (in this case 2400 ha or around 6,000 acres), build a spectacular home for themselves, a lodge for guests on safari, and then rebuild the natural herds.  They each try to have the "Big Five (or Six or Seven)" -- elephants, lions, rhinoceros, water buffalo, and hippos (and sometimes cheetahs ad leopards) at minimum, plus all the other smaller species of the area. 

     These preserves and parks can be found all through the country -- and are laudited for saving habitat for the animals.  It makes sense to the degree that South Africa has largely been developed into farms, wineries, and towns just like all developing nations.   However we just never imagined that there would be SO MANY opportunities to see the animals...we sort of naively thought that we would have to wait until we visited the two big national parks on our itinerary, Kruger in the north and Addo here in the south.  Of course in these two huge national parks there will be larger herds roaming more freely.  Next week we will possibly get a view of what is billed as the "last free ranging South African elephant" as we drive to Knysna -- all others are in game preserves (reserves or parks) or national parks.   I guess these parks and preserves are this country's Yellowstones.