April 18 Photos
Garden Route-Day One
To enlarge photos, double click on them. Press the browser return button to return to this page.
Today, we set out with our new guide, Bo, on the three day Garden Route trip. Once again, we had a private guide and, this time, a VW bus as transport. Our first stop was in Swellendam where we had lunch at the brook above and then proceeded to the Drostdy Museum. This complex was built by the Dutch East India Company in 1747 and included a jail and space for various artisans and craftsmen.
View of the Old Post Office Tree where sailors left messages for each other in a shoe. Messages would be picked up and transported on the next ocean ship.
Mossel Bay and the Bartolomeu Dias Museum Complex--The museum was built in 1988 to signify the 500th anniversary of Dias' landfall. In 1987, a full size replica of his ship was built in Portugal and sailed to South Africa under similar conditions as the original sailing. The 25 ton vessel was lifted from the water and transported into the museum complex where the remainder of the museum was built around the ship.