The Bartolomeu Dias Museum complex in Mossel Bay, South Africa gives a good introduction to the age of sea exploration. The Portuguese navigator rounded the Cape of Good Hope around the southern-most tip of the continent of Africa in 1488. This complex is named after him. There is a replica of the 15th century caravel or ship in this museum.
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| Can you tell the time on this sundial? What else can it be used for? |
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| Artefacts that pre-date the coming of the European explorers to the Cape of Africa |
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| The African bushmen, like the San, had used science to hunt and art to record what they did. The explorers had to barter with the tribal people for fresh food. |
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| What appear to be tortoise shells and an ostrich egg |
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| Pottery fragments |
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| The long journey down the West coast of Africa from Europe as the explorers sought to find their way to the Indies and spices! |
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| This full-size 25-ton three-masted caravel replica was built in Portugal and sailed from Portugal to South Africa in 1988, 500 years after Bartolomeu Dias' journey. |
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| Guess what Trevez has decided to do about the sloping deck when mum's not looking? |
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| What would a mother tell her son caught sliding down the deck? |
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| The caravel is housed in a building with exhibits lining the walls. |
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| Part of the pulley system for the sails |
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| The masts had to be hoisted or stored depending on the winds. Apparently the winds blew differently once the ships rounded the Cape of Good Hope. |
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| Under the upper deck |
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| This is not a very large ship |
The Portuguese caravel
A quick look at the caravel
View around the lower deck. This is a modern replica that was launched on the 500th anniversary of the voyage.
http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/bartholomeu-dias
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