Ethno-Botanical Garden

The ethno-botanical garden is a collection of plants that occur naturally in the Mossel Bay area and were used for shelter, food, medicinal and spiritual purposes. It includes a Braille trail created to make the garden experience accessible, enjoyable and educational for our visually impaired visitors.

An indigenous field garden provides a tangible and visual experience of the unique fynbos, thicket, and milkwood forest vegetation of Mossel Bay. Aloes, bulbs, vygies, September-bush, pelargoniums, everlastings, wild olive trees and a variety of other indigenous plants are to be found here.

A live specimen display inside the Granary is stocked with examples of the indigenous plants that grow in the area.

Fynbos is particularly well represented in the Mossel Bay area. You’ll find common species like the Cape reeds (or restio’s), as well as buchus and rarities like the Mossel Bay pincushion that flowers from April to September, and the Albertinia pincushion that flowers from July to October.

The fourth Portuguese fleet to land at São Brás arrived in July 1501 to take in supplies on route to India.

Its commander João da Nova found a message from Pedro D’Ataide that contained information about the hostility towards the Portuguese at Calcutta and warned of rough waters “to the East”. Pedro D’Ataide’s ship landed at the “watering place of São Brás” (present-day Mossel Bay) in early 1501 where he left a letter in a Portuguese sailor’s shoe tied to a tree here.

João da Nova was so grateful for this timely warning that he erected a small chapel or hermitage. Presumably, this structure was the first place of Christian worship in South Africa.

Several references were made to the chapel over time as being close to “the watering place” but its exact position has not yet been found.

A cross was erected behind the Granary in a place considered to be a possible site of the Portuguese chapel.

The Portuguese erected crosses along the shoreline of Africa to record their presence. A stone padrão, or cross, was erected in 1969 as a replica of a wooden cross erected by Vasco da Gama at Mossel Bay in 1497.

Female Southern Right whales of 8 years and older, usually calve once every three years, with a gestation period of 12 to 13 months. An adult Southern Right whale can reach a length of 15.5 meters and can weigh around 43 tonnes.

Between July and October, these whales arrive in the warmer waters of the South African south coast to calve in the calm waters of the bays near its beaches. During this time, you can watch the whales lobtailing, breaching, fluking, or spy-hopping. Whales and dolphins can sometimes be seen from the museum grounds and the veranda of the Maritime Museum.

Other spots with prime views of the visiting whales include The Point, the St. Blaize Lighthouse and Rheebok (especially the Kusweg area). During a trip on a local whale watching boat with trained guides, you might see Southern Right or Humpback whales, Great White and other sharks, dolphins, Cape fur seals, and various seabirds.