Museum the place to be

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MOSSEL BAY NEWS - It's the school holiday and Mossel Bay is abuzz with hundreds of visitors, discovering the beauty and treasurers of the town and surroundings.

Visitors have been flocking to the Dias Museum.

Only last week it opened its doors on weekends and public holidays after it was open only during the week because of lockdown restrictions.

"We are delighted by this new influx of visitors. It almost feels like the good old days, when the Dias Museum was one of the most visited museums in South Africa," Mbulelo Mrubata, general manager of the museum, told the Mossel Bay Advertiser.

Photo gallery: Visiters flock to Dias Museum

He said the recent visitors came as individuals and in small groups.

The usual busloads of overseas visitors as well as school groups were still absent, but the national visitors were enjoying the offerings of the Dias complex which incorporates the Postbox Tree, the Shell Museum with the largest collections of shells in Africa, the Granary housing various exhibitions, as well as the main building which houses the famous replica of the 1488 caravel which sailed from Portugal to Mossel Bay.

Fabulous backdrop
At present people cannot board the ship as it is closed for much-needed repairs, but it still makes a fabulous backdrop for photographs.

Visitors are also enjoying seeing the Dias cross and the indigenous plant walk, which has braille directions for visually impaired visitors.

The sun dial as well as the museum grounds with the attractive Munro cottages and Munro Bay in the background definitely call for selfie photographs and family pictures.

During the different Covid-19 lockdown levels the museum was either closed or only open from 09:00 to 14:00 on weekdays and closed over weekends and public holidays. The committee of the Friends of the Museum, a volunteer organisation that supports the museum, met management and asked it to reconsider opening over weekends and holidays, when most people have the opportunity to visit the museum.

According to the Friends of the Museum chairman, Denise Lloyd, all are thrilled that even over the first weekend the longer hours paid off, with a good flow of visitors.