I've lived in Mossel Bay for a couple of years but still frequently visit it mainly for three reasons, family, surfing and photography.  On all three reasons I can probably spend a day talking, but let me just quickly mention one...photography.

Mossel Bay, sometimes called "the drinking town with a fishing problem" is known for much more than just that.  A popular tourist town that provides so much scope for the photograph enthusiast. There are the most awesome settings to take pictures and if the town does not deliver one can always drive up the Garden Route.  I am sure however that if you really go out and capture the beauty of this town, you will not get further than Dias beach....

Below some images from Mossel Bay. Do yourself a favour a book a trip with me to go and explore the beauty of this paradise.

Show me the light

I have had a fascination with lighthouses since I was a kid.  I think my fascination lies in the fact that it is usually situated at rocky outcrops and the idea of being out on the ocean at night and seeing light must be a comforting sight to any sailor.  Despite my fascination with them, I have never really photographed them.  If I did it was during the day and what is a lighthouse during the day apart from maybe just interesting architecture. 

On my recent trip to Mossel Bay I made the effort to get up early to take a shot at it.  I looked for the best angles because the light house is a bit obstructed by trees when faced from the front.  Secondly it is quite high, so getting a shot from a horizontal angle is a bit tricky.  Then there are some other challenges like a bright light that does not stand still and of course as in the case of the one in Mossel Bay, the lights lightening the lighthouse at night goes on and off the whole time.  Not sure if it is to save energy or if the bulb is getting overheated, but it takes a bit of planning to get the shot at the right time.  Add to this a 2 second remote trigger time to avoid camera shake then it is not just for walking up to the lighthouse and taking a shot. It takes some careful planning.

After been questioned by the police for walking around the streets in the early hours of the morning looking a bit suspicious I guess, I managed to get a few shots at last... 

For more pictures on Mossel Bay please visit my Facebook Page.

Garden Route Accommodation

Great Brak River - A photo gallery

No trespassing here, please

A friend of mine told me that in Scotland they don't have trespassing laws. I was rather surprized by that, but when I asked him what would happen when people do actually "invade your privacy or property", he said that they don't really do it over there. But that is Scotland and this is South Africa. We do have trespassing laws, and we do have trespassers. Many of them. The thing is in South Africa we are so worried about people's rights that we sometimes forget who we are protecting. Despite our trespassing laws trespassers sometimes have more rights than the owner of the property that they are trespassing on. Another problem is that when people trespass it is usually for the wrong reasons. OK, let me call it by name. To steal. So, we try to keep unwelcomed guest off our property by fencing off our properties, sometimes even using electrical fences and barbed wire. Some people invest in vicious canines (be careful, when your dog bites a burglar you might be held responsible in the end) or other dangerous animals like crocodiles (I have a good story about this one). A neighbour of mine kept poisonous snakes in his house (or at least that is what the sign in the window said). But many just use simple signs saying "This is Private Property, Trespassers will be Prosecuted". To keep a potential thief off your property this is as useless as saying "This is my house, please do not break in". I had to smile however when I saw the sign below on a property in Mossel Bay. I think everybody that has been to Mossel Bay knows where this little cottage next to the sea is situated, and everybody knows the real reason why this "prime" property has lost most of its value. It also has something to do with "unwelcomed guest". But I have to give him some credit for originality, even if only one trespasser falls for this warning sign then I guess it was worth the effort.

NOTICE

NO ENTRY

BE WARNED!

TRAPS FOR WILD ANIMALS!

A sharking experience

I have always wondered what the real differences were between adrenaline, adventure and extreme sports. I guess many people will have many views, but I am sure a particular sport can change from the one to the other depending the variation in danger elements or risks involved. Let's take a simple sport like swimming. When you do it in a shallow pool, I guess the words adrenaline and adventure never comes to mind. Do it in the open ocean and adventure sounds appropriate. Do it in shark infested water and extreme all of a sudden seems like the best word to describe it.

Last week on the Internet and e-mails a picture of a shark caught off the South African Coast was doing the rounds. An enormous monster weighing in at 700kg with a lenght of 4,3 meters. Because the pictures were taken in Mossel Bay, most people believe that the shark comes from there. The fact is that sharks have been followed swimming from South Africa to Australia and back. I believe most sharks come back after they have tasted one or two Aussies. Nevertheless, these creature are everywhere in our oceans, and they make the crime risks in South Africa look like a Sunday school picnic.  Btw, this one was caught off the Kwa-Zulu coastline.

I have been surfing for many years and I never viewed surfing as a adrenaline or extreme sport. Maybe just because I never had the opportunity to surf the massive waves in Hawaii, or risking my life above corals in Teahupoo. What I do know now is that I have been surfing in waters where these guys are lurking. Not knowing that fact drops the extremity a little, but show anyone the shark before he enters the water and I am pretty sure not many people will take the risk...making even swimming an extreme sports by my definition.

Shark sightings are common in South African waters, with some of the best pictures of breaching sharks taken in False Bay. I have surfed in areas where sharks are quite common, Durban, Wild Coast, Mossel Bay, Nahoon Reef...but I have only witness a fin about once or twice in my life. And I am not even sure if it was a shark or a maybe a dolphin. Maybe I was just lucky, or maybe I believe the riskier the activity the more enjoyable it becomes...and the luckier you get when you live to tell the story. There is a joke going around about the dude sitting in the a bar claiming that he made a good agreement with the sharks. The sharks will never go into the bar if he will never go into the water. I don't think I am prepared to make that sacrifice just yet. Hope to see you (and not the sharks) in the water soon...