Struisbaai – Colour Dots

De Mond nature reserve

carynkaleido — Sat, 10 Dec 2022 18:55:26 +0000

De Mond Nature Reserve is at the mouth of the Heuningsnes River near Arniston, the pristine estuary is uniquely ‘Southern Cape Coast along a 14km long white sandy beach. There are great angling opportunities here, both in the river and the sea, for Grunter, steenbras, galjoen, leervis, elf, cob, springer and striped harder. (Fishing in the Western Cape) If you are staying at the reserve, night fishing can be gratifying. Angling licenses are available from the gate office at De Mond. The reserve also offers excellent birding and hiking opportunities. de Mond is a World Heritage Site. It offers fantastic whale-watching opportunities in spring, The Sterna Hiking Trail: A circular trail with a distance of 7 km that takes about 3 hours. The route will guide you through the reserve and over the Heuningnes River by way of a suspension bridge. The Western Cape coast is home to hundreds of bird species. For full identification and seasonal details, see this comprehensive Western Cape bird guide. 34°42’36.81″S, 20°06’17.41″E Arniston Check the tides here

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Pelican’s Harbour Cafe

carynkaleido — Sat, 27 Feb 2021 09:43:29 +0000

Pelican’s Harbour Cafe, a seafood restaurant.

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Struisbaai Caravan park

carynkaleido — Sat, 03 Oct 2020 13:12:45 +0000

Struisbaai Caravan Park is 4.5km from Cape Agulhas, the southernmost tip of Africa. There are 275 lawn-covered sites and 16 chalets,11 chalets sleep 6, and 5 chalets sleep, 4 people. The park has a sea view and direct access to the beach. Struisbaai park is a municipal facility. Address: Duiker St, Struis Bay

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Struisbaai Sea Shack

carynkaleido — Wed, 25 Nov 2020 10:15:29 +0000

Struisbaai Sea Shack has panoramic views of the ocean and a relaxed child-friendly dining experience with your feet in the sand. Minnetoka street Struisbaai seashacksa@gmail.com

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The wreck of the Brederode

carynkaleido — Sun, 24 Dec 2023 18:11:44 +0000

The wreck of the Brederode This was a Dutch East India Company vessel that was lost in 1785. off the South African coast on its homeward from Batavia and China, it was carrying valuable cargo consisting of tea, and fabrics from the East. The ship was believed to also have had a large cargo of tin and gold. In June of 1998, 213 years later, a local diver found the wreck of the Brederode in 65m of water near Struis Bay. He found an iron cannon, a bronze cannon, and a huge anchor. There were boxes of beautiful porcelain crockery that were still packed in crates. To confirm the discovery, he identified the ship’s bell. The value of the cargo was then estimated at over R120 million. The diver died before he was able to recover the treasure. Also, his permit expired soon after he located the wreck and unfortunately, permits are no longer granted. Shipwreck museum

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The wreck of the Meermin

carynkaleido — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 15:34:31 +0000

The wreck of the Meermin happened after a 3-week-long mutiny on the ship, when slaves being transported rose against their captors. The Meermin was a 480-ton square-rigged ship of the Dutch hoeker-type, with three masts, which was built in 1759. In February 1766, The Meermin (Mermaid) sailed from Madagascar to the Cape with a cargo of slaves. The slaves staged a mutiny on board that lasted for three weeks. During the mutiny, half the ship’s crew and almost 30 Malagasy captives died. The ship’s chief merchant had persuaded the captain to release the Malagasy slaves from their shackles. He believed that doing this would avoid attrition by death and disease in their unsanitary, crowded living conditions. The slaves were put to work on the ship. They were given the job of cleaning some weapons, which they then used to seize the ship to escape. The crew negotiated a truce. The crew was to be spared on the assurance that the ship would return to Madagascar. Of course, the ship headed for the Cape. When the Meermin got to Struisbaai, the slaves believed they were close to Madagascar, and about 50 of them disembarked and went ashore. They were hoping to clear the way for the rest of the slaves to follow. The slaves, however, found they had been tricked, and they faced a militia of farmers formed in response to Meermin‘s arrival. The farmers had understood that, as the ship was flying no flags, it was in distress. The crew managed to get a message to the farmers by sending messages in bottles. They were instructed to light fires, which were to trick the slaves again into believing it was safe to go ashore. When the fires were lit, the Malagasy cut the anchor cable, which caused the ship to drift to shore, and she ran aground on a sandbank. .The slaves saw they had been fooled, and they surrendered. The crew was fired from the company and stripped of their rank and wages. The VOC authorities salvaged as much as possible from the beached Meermin. The VOC recovered nearly 300 firearms, gunpowder, musket balls, compasses, and five bayonets from the ship; they auctioned cables, ropes, and other items on the shore. The hull was too expensive to salvage. The Meermin was ultimately left to break up where she grounded. The two surviving leaders of the mutiny, named in Dutch East India Company records as Massavana and Koesaaij, were sent to Robben Island, where Massavana died three years later; Koesaaij survived there for another 20 years. Between 1658 and 179,9 the Dutch East India Company bought and transported approximately 63,000 enslaved people to its Cape Colony. View the full alphabetical list of shipwrecks of the Western Cape Browse the chronological shipwreck of the Western Cape timeline

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The wreck of the Schoonenberg,

carynkaleido — Sun, 14 Jul 2024 17:26:34 +0000

The wreck of the Schoonenberg is one of intrigue and mystery. The Schoonenberg also spelt Schonenberg and Schonenbergh. “Schönenberg/Schonenberg”, German for ‘Lovely Mountain’, was an 800-ton trading ship, Spiegelretourschip or Dutch East Indiaman. It was built for the Amsterdam Chamber of the VOC. The ship was a typical 40 m three master built for trade with the East and operated between 1717 and 1722. It was damaged beyond repair in an accident near Struisbaai on the 20th of November 1722. There have for many years been rumours that The Schoonenberg, was intentionally wrecked in order to set up an opportunity for the cargo to be stolen. The story tells of the conspiracy between the ship’s captain and three farmers from Hottentots Holland to beach the vessel in order to salvage the cargo and hide it away on the Vergelegen Estate. When the Castle of Good Hope Governor, Mauritz Pasque de Chavonnes, was told the information of the plot, he had the perpetrators arrested, tried and brutally punished. Although the grounds of Vergelegen were searched over the years, nobody ever recovered any treasure. Stories of the “treasure” however have gone unchallenged for nearly 300 years. See Shipwrecks around the Western Cape coast I

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The wreck of the Zoetendal

carynkaleido — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 15:15:36 +0000

.The Zoetendal was a 448-ton flute. It was under the command of Captain Jan Block for the Dutch East India Company when it ran aground at Struisbaai in 1673. It was on a return voyage from Batavia with a cargo of rice. The story of the wreck of the Zoetendal goes that the crew were drunk. 4 drowned, and another 6 were so drunk they did not even leave the ship. There were about 40 survivors who set off in a westerly direction. After making their way through some rough ground, they came upon a large freshwater lake. They named it Soetendalsvlei, after their stricken vessel. The survivors rested a while and then began their ordeal hiking towards Table Bay. The first disaster occurred when one of their party was killed by an elephant. Fortunately, they were rescued by a Khoi chief of the Chainoqua clan by the name of Dorha. He was a cattle trader known to the VOC as Captain Claas, and he led the party back to Cape Town See a list of shipwrecks around the Cape Coast

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