See the whales in Mossel Bay

According to a recent media release by Mossel Bay Tourism, the 2011 whale season in Mossel Bay is well under way.

Mossel Bay is not as well known as a whale sighting destination as, say, Hermanus, but thanks to the Mossel Bay Cetacean Project, this is changing. This project, which is now in its second year, has shown that Mossel Bay and it’s neighbour to the west, Vlees Bay, are indeed important whaling destinations.

Mossel Bay Tourism’s Marcia Holm says: “Thus far this season a number of socialising groups of southern right whales have been observed and mother-calf groups have also been seen from the observation sites in both Mossel Bay and in Vlees Bay.”

“The whales have been observed at various locations, and they appear to utilise large portions of the Bay for their activities.”

A visit by a cow-calf pair to De Bakke recently caused particular excitement in the town. Says Holm, “They were literally 50 metres off shore, and you could clearly see their callosities – the growths on their heads which allow the scientists to identify individual animals.”

If you want to see the whales, arrange your Mossel Bay accommodation with one of our friendly booking agents today. We will get you a front-row seat.

Second baby rhino born near Mossel Bay

The Garden Route Game Lodge near Mossel Bay has announced the birth of a second baby rhino in as many years.

“The baby was spotted on the game drive on the morning of Sunday the 13th of March, so it was probably born onSaturday the 12th, some time in the evening,” said the reserve’s owner, Anthony Doherty.

“Game ranger Arbri Olivier had sighted the rhinos and was busy explaining to the guests on his Land Rover how he suspected that the cow may be pregnant when to his surprise the calf showed itself!” he said.

“The inter-calving period is usually two and a half years and this cow gave birth to her first calf just over two years ago – hence our surprise.”

It’s also quite unusual to be able to see the calf at such a young age. “New mothers normally retreat with their calves into the thicket, emerging into the grasslands only in the cool of the day to graze,” said Mr. Doherty

Rhino sightings are a regular occurrence on the Reserve, which offers game drives to both resident guests and day visitors. Other wildlife on the Reserve includes lion, elephants, buffalo, giraffe, cheetah and various antelope species, while a reptile center and cheetah conservation center are particularly popular attractions.

Mr. Doherty said that the youngster – which hasn’t been named yet because staff on the Reserve don’t know whether it’s a bull or a calf – “Is a feisty little thing, a bit of a terrorist, constantly charging its mother’s legs and her horn.

“It’s suckling strongly, and appears to be perfectly healthy.

“Also, the mother has now chased away the older calf – Roxy – so that she can concentrate on the baby, and Roxy is now walking and grazing with our bull.”

Mossel Bay Tourism’s Marcia Holm said that the Reserve’s wildlife Manager, Hein Schoeman, has put an anti-poaching strategy in place under the guidance of local wildlife expert, author and owner of the Nature College, Johan Fourie.

She congratulated the Garden Route Game Lodge on the arrival of the new addition.

“Situated as it in the fynbos and between the mountains and the sea, Mossel Bay offers a very unusual mix of African wilderness experiences, as the birth of this baby rhino perfectly illustrates.

“We wish him or her a long and healthy life in the pristine environment of the Reserve.”

A short video of the calf has been loaded to YouTube – go here

More information:

• Garden Route Game Lodge
• Mossel Bay Tourism
• Terblanche Total Property Solutions

 

Mossel Bay updates Wikipedia Page

Mossel Bay Tourism has recently completed a major upgrade of the town’s page on Wikipedia – the leading on-line encyclopaedia.

“Our research suggests that the Wikipedia page is possibly second only to our own web site - www.visitmosselbay.co.za – when it comes to providing on-line information about the town,” said Mossel Bay Tourism’s Marcia Holm.

“Like www.visitmosselbay.co.za, it features consistently on the first page of Google searches, and it comes up first every time on Yahoo and answers.com – so it’s imperative that the information is up-to-date and relevant.”

Wikipedia is a collaborative project that’s based on five pillars (it’s an encyclopedia, not a soapbox; it has a neutral point of view; it provides free content that anyone can edit and distribute; its users follow a code of conduct and etiquette that includes interacting in a respectful and civil manner; it does not have firm rules – although “the spirit of the rule trumps the letter of the rule”).

“We realised some time ago that the Mossel Bay page was outdated and hopelessly inadequate, so we began by studying the kind of information that leading cities around the world – including New York and Cape Town – provided on their pages, and built our table of contents on their examples,” said Ms. Holm.

“Our new page (which took about 60 hours to research and write) now boasts more than 11,000 words on the town’s history, archaeology, geography, economy, tourism, culture, and sport – and any student, traveller, or potential investor can now get a quick overview of Mossel Bay in just a few minutes.”

Ms. Holm said that the internet remains the town’s most effective advertising medium.

“The flow of traffic is enormous – our site alone attracted more than 300 unique visitors a day over the last 30 days – so it pays to pay attention to the quality of information available on the net.

“This is why will now view Wikipedia as an ongoing project, and will update the page whenever we have accurate information on any changes or developments in Mossel Bay,” she said.

Visit Mossel Bay on Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mossel_Bay or check out our own information on Mossel Bay here.

New “Things to do” Brochure for Mossel Bay

Media Release. 1 November 2010. Mossel Bay Tourism

Mossel Bay Tourism has published a new version of its popular ‘Things To Do’ Brochure.

Mossel Bay’s new Things To Do Brochure – 28 pages of attractions and activities

“By coincidence, the town features as one of the cover stories in the October edition of Getaway Magazine. The article’s called ‘Mossel Bay – Hey! It’s the Garden Route’s new adventure hub’ – and we couldn’t have described it better ourselves,” said Mossel Bay Tourism’s Marcia Holm.

“Mossel Bay has come a long way from the old days when it was just a sleepy kusdorpie – which is why we decided earlier this year to adopt a new slogan (‘Mossel Bay. Do stuff’), and why we’ve also re-thought, and completely redesigned, our attractions and adventures brochure.”

Ms. Holm said that Mossel Bay is ideally situated as an adventure playground.

“It’s exactly half way between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, it enjoys the best weather – and the best beaches – on the Garden Route, and it’s close to both the Outeniqua Mountains and the unique fynbos of the Albertinia-Gourits River area.

“It’s also culturally a very rich area, being both the focus of the Mossel Bay Archaeology Project (the largest scientific project of it’s kind in the world), and the site of the first contact between European explorers and indigenous South Africans.”

She said that the arrival of Bartolomeu Dias and his crew on the 3rd of February, 1488, is commemorated in the Dias Museum complex’s Maritime Museum. “The replica of Dias’ caravel – and the Post Office Tree in which the Portuguese explorers of the 15th and 16th centuries used to leave messages for one another – remain two of our biggest attractions, especially amongst European and South American visitors.

“Taken together, Mossel Bay now offers an enormous number of attractions and things to do: everything from shark cage diving and sand boarding to spas and beauty salons. And we’ve now even got a beautiful wine estate, which took championship awards at the 2009 and the 2010 South African Young Wine Shows.”

Ms. Holm said that the new Things To Do brochure has been designed to provide the public – and tour operators – snapshots of information about all of the town’s adventures and attractions.

“Every one of them has been colour coded to a fold-out map – so users can easily plan their routes.”

She said that whilst mobile phones have made the internet easily available, “when it comes to making spur-of-the-moment decisions, travellers still rely heavily on printed brochures.

“Proof of this comes from our brochure distribution contractor, whose clients in the accommodation and attractions sectors have figures to show that between 10 and 15% of new business is generated via information that people have found in brochures.”

Mossel Bay Tourism’s new ‘Things To Do’ brochure is available from the information office on the corner Church and Market Streets. For an electronic version, please mail info@visitmosselbay.co.za.

Download pdf MBay Things To Do pdf