south africa: mossel bay

When I booked the bus from Knysna to Mossel Bay I made the mistake of thinking it would be on time. The original arrival time was in the middle of the night, which was tough enough. Then, it was at least 90 minutes late, pushing back my arrival time even more. Argh. Fortunately, before I left Knysna my host there had given me the number of a taxi service to call. (Yet another reason he was so awesome.)

Thankfully, the taxi didn't take long to arrive, and drove me straight to my accomodation.

When I'd booked my accomodation (on the recommendation of the same host in Knysna,) I'd let them know I would be arriving after they closed the check in desk. They'd said they would leave the key and information with the security guards, so I knew that would be the same arrangement no matter what time I arrived.

Security let me into my room, and I went straight to sleep.
This is where I describe my accomodation a bit. It was an old train!!! Unique, to say the least. I've slept on many a night train, but this one was unique in where it was parked. On the beach!! I opened my window just a bit to let in the sound of the waves coming in. Totally awesome. I fell asleep fast.

I slept until just before sunrise. In other words, not all that long, since I'd arrived around 2 in the morning.

Normally I would've been annoyed. But when I woke up and looked out the window of my room (which probably would've held at least two – maybe even four – people when it was an active train) I could see the beginnings of sunrise. I knew I'd already seen a few beautiful sunsets during this trip, but not so much sunrises.

I got out of the train and walked a few steps to the beach, and proceeded to take several panoramic shots of the sunrise. Beautiful the whole time.

I wanted to go back to sleep when I got back to my room, but it didn't work. Instead, I went to breakfast, in another part of the complex. This wasn't part of the train, it was added on. My room rate included breakfast, but only the cold food. That is, cereal, yogurt, fruit, and bread. I missed my eggs and bacon and tomatoes, but I survived just fine. It was possible to order and pay for hot food, but that seemed unnecessary to me. I was also able to have tea.

I went back to my room and packed my bag. It didn't take long, since I'd been there less than 12 hours. At the front desk I was able to see I wasn't the only one leaving a bag there during the day. I spent a few minutes booking a bus to my next destination, then asked the front desk how to get to where I wanted to go that day.

Mossel Bay is another city on the garden route. I'd come for one reason, which didn't end up working out, argh. I'd come because someone I met recommended a specific seafood restaurant. When I called the restaurant to make a reservation, they told me they weren't open for the season yet. Argh. Oh well.

I followed a map into the city center, which wasn't terribly exciting. It's another place that is probably packed during summer. During winter, not so much. During summer, shops and stuff are probably open all the time. During winter, not so much. It's probably rather cute when the shops are open, with people wandering around. I hope there are more cafes and restaurants open in summer.

As I walked through town very little was open. It was rather depressing, even though the weather was pretty good.

I found a church that was mentioned on the map, though it wasn't very intesting. I found a church that wasn't on the map, which was far more interesting. I finally found an open shop, it sold bikinis. Since it was winter, there weren't others looking, but I wanted more, so I was excited. I bought two, then stuffed them in my purse.

Eventually a road took me to a memorial. Like most of those I saw in South Africa, this was mostly for WW1.

There were a few names added later for WW2, but it was clear where the emphasis belonged.

I found a shack selling soft serve ice cream cones, I got one dipped in caramel sauce. The guy told me they made their own ice cream cones. I think the cone was better than the ice cream or the dip. I thought about buying an extra cone, just because; but I didn't.

From the ice cream shack I could see where I wanted to go next. Mossel Bay is on the coast, which is where the ice cream shack was located.

I took a few minutes to climb over a few rocks, and watch the waves crashing on the other side of the rocks. The wind wasn't all that strong, but the waves were still strong. I bet it must be amazing during storms.

I found the beginning of a trail I wanted to walk, and started walking. I'm glad I'd figured out something to do since the restaurant was closed.

St James trail follows the coastline for a while. I don't remember exactly, I think it is something like 15km? I walked for over 5km one way, then turned around because I wanted to get back to the hotel before sunset.

While I was walking, I followed the contours of the coastline. The trail was high up, so I wasn't down at water level. I got to see heaps of views over the water, and up and down the coastline.

Sooo pretty. I found myself wishing again that I'd gotten going earlier in the day, and had a chance to walk further along the trail. The trail went up and down, through bushy areas, through sandy areas, etc... I loved every minute of the walk.

I struggled to find a dinner place when I got back in the direction of my hotel. I ended up buying food at a supermarket (surrounded by closed shops) which isn't what I wanted. Argh. Fortunately, the dining room was still open in my hotel, so I ordered a hot meal in addition to the food I'd bought at the supermarket. I didn't have hot breakfast in the morning, I had it in the evening instead. Well worth it.

I called the same taxi company that evening to take me back to the bus dropoff. It ended up being the same driver! The bus was again running late, and I was again stuck outside most of the time. Howeva, in Knysna there was a picnic table and benches on which I could sit. In Mossel Bay the gas station didn't have much for people waiting around for a bus. It was cold, windy, and annoying.

At this point I should've been ready for it, but I was still surprised when the bus was late. Over an hour late, argh. I called the bus company again, and they wanted to know my ticket number when I asked where our bus was. Does that really matter? I think they just wanted to know who was taking the time to call about buses. Anywho, eventually they told me where the bus was. Not surprisingly, it was even later than they said.

Eventually, the bus arrived, and most of the people already on board were asleep. I had to wake someone up to get to my seat, oh well.

I probably won't go back to Mossel Bay, as I feel as though I've seen the town. But I've also learned, never say never....