Boggomsbaai and the quirky Fred Orban

The Buffalo Rally was on and Mossel Bay was full of bikers. And dog-friendly posed a challenge, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when Mossel Bay Tourism suggested that I stay in Boggomsbaai.

Well, it has a stunning (officially dog-unfriendly) beach, Fred Orban lives here, and there are no shops or pubs or restaurants at all (unless you’re participating in the Oystercatcher Trail, when you’ll be convivially hosted in their quite surprising establishment).

Fred owns Oystercatcher Trails, which manages the 4-day slackpackers hike from Cape Blaize at Mossel Bay along the coast to the Gouritz River, and Sandpiper Cape Cottages, which offers self-catering accommodation in Boggomsbaai outside Mossel Bay — and is also used by the slackpackers. They also manage the logistics for the Point of Human Origins Experience, which I would have missed, had it not being for Fred (and Martin Hatchuel) insisting I do it! (Click here for my experience of that.)

But it was in discussion with Fred that the penny really dropped about how important tours and activities really are in the greater scheme of tourism. They create more jobs, more entrepreneurs and more upward mobility & opportunity than anything else…

Boggomsbaai’s dog-unfriendly beach, where locals have adopted a more sensible approach than the municipality’s.

Beezus & I stayed in the house Fred originally designed and built for himself. It doesn’t get much better than this — what a fireplace … what a shower … what a bathroom!