From St Blaize's Trail, Mosselbaai towards Dana Bay, South Africa

            It was on St Blaize's feastday, February 3, in 1488 that Bartholomeu Dias made landfall with his two caravels at Mosselbaai, a safe harbor on the craggy coasts of southern Africa. The two vessels of wood (the Sâo Pantaleâo and the Sâo Cristovâo), each less than 24 metres in length and 6 at their broadest, had withstood six months of towering seas from Europe. Appropriately the day was St Blaize's not only the patron saint of wood carvers, but also the healer of throat aches (indeed we remember the blessing when we were kids). Hence Dias named his watering place Aguada de Sâo Blas.
Often the voyages of discovery are seen as one of the heralds of Modern Times, and there is much to be said for that. But today I was struck by the very Medieval nature of the venture in practicalities: after a few days the sailors of discovery and the natives of the land grew tired of each other. For some reason the natives began to pelt the seafarers with stones, whereupon one of the latter took to hand his CROSSBOW, shooting and killing a native. No muskets yet... 
It's an amazing coast: wild and craggy and beautiful, and it's a delight to hike the St Blaize's Trail, which leads about 14 kms onward to Dana Bay.
More pictures from South Africa are forthcoming once I get to a better internet connection. Meanwhile, Happy Christmas...
   

Taken in: South Africa / Western Cape / Mossel Bay (show map)

Taken on: December 19, 2008

Tags:

Mosselbaai

South Africa

St Blaize

Dana Bay

Bartholomeu Dias

Sâo Pantaleâo

Sâo Cristovâo

caravel

crossbow

St Blaize's Trail

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Camera: Sony DSC-T200, f/5.6, 1/640 sec, 5.8mm, ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Sony DSC-T200
Aperture:	f/5.6
Exposure Time:	0.002 sec (1/640)
Focal Length:	5.8mm
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Auto, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
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