GARDEN ROUTE DISTRICT NEWS - She got her inspiration from the leaning tower of Pisa in Italy*, but the rest is all pure Garden Route. Natasha de Freitas and Natalie Oliver of Oysters R Us erected a 4,73m tall tower filled with Pacific oysters at their eatery on the outskirts of Wilderness.
"To our knowing, it is the largest leaning tower of oyster shells in the world," said De Freitas. "And it happened in a week!"
The tower was officially completed on 25 February and already drew attention from international guests.
"The aim is to draw visitors to the Garden Route. It is a tough time for most businesses and it's a time when we all need to get creative in drawing the visitors back," she said.
"The more there is to see in a particular area, the longer visitors are encouraged to stay, and the longer visitors stay, the more all the other little businesses, restaurants and guesthouses benefit. We wanted something fun to engage people. They take selfies at our leaning tower and share it on social media. You look at the tower and you just want to laugh - and that is what we need right now."
Almost there. Filling up the leaning tower of oysters at Oysters R Us.
The tower is anchored by a gum pole and consists of wire meshing filled with oyster shells. All the shells are from the eatery. According to De Freitas it didn't even make a dent in the amount of shells they have accumulated over the years.
In her research De Freitas could find nothing similar to what they have created here in the Garden Route.
"Should someone come up with the same idea, we have plans in place to make ours even taller," she said. "The leaning tower of Pisa draws millions of visitors per year; we hope to do the same with our tower."
Natalie Oliver shows the sheer height of their tower.
"To our knowing, it is the largest leaning tower of oyster shells in the world," said De Freitas.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa is the freestanding bell tower of the cathedral of the Italian city of Pisa, known worldwide for its nearly four-degree lean resulting from an unstable foundation.
