Pecks's Valley Trail #1: Muizie Musings
The cache, a small camo-taped tablet pot is hidden at this fine resting (and musing) rock on the Peck's Valley trail. As this is not too far from the trail head and you will be no doubt on a longer mission - the cache Best Seat in the House GC54AQQ is accessed from higher up this trail and of course Silvermine East - then the resting & musing would be more appropriate on the way down.
Either way the location provides a splendid overview of Muizenberg . . . a village with a rich social and cultural history. It is the birthplace of surfing in South Africa and home to a surfing community, centered on the popular 'Surfer's Corner'.
Historically, the village has several special features, including Het Posthuys (the Post House), Rhodes' Cottage and the site of the Battle of Muizenberg.
Rhodes' Cottage is a small house on the seafront that Cecil Rhodes bought as a holiday cottage and this was where he died in 1902. The house is preserved as a museum dedicated to Rhodes' life and is open to the public.
Het Posthuys is one of the oldest buildings in South Africa (c1742) and was built by the Dutch East India Company as a toll-house to levy a tax on farmers passing by to sell their produce to ships lying in Simon's Bay. One of the early postholders was Sergeant Muys (meaning 'mouse'), from whom Muizenberg (formerly Muysenbergh and Muys Zijn Bergh (Muys' mountain) before that) gets its name.
The Battle of Muizenberg was a small but significant military affair that began in June 1795 and ended 3 months later with the first British occupation of the Cape. Thus began the period (briefly interrupted from 1804 to 1806) of British control of the Cape, and subsequently much of Southern Africa. The historical remnant of the Battle of Muizenberg is on a site on the hillside overlooking False Bay that holds the remains of a defensive fort started by the Dutch in 1795 and expanded by the British from 1796 onwards.
Muizenberg was in the early 1880s nothing more than a small settlement of farmhouses and beach shacks and up until then the beach had been mainly used for trek-fishing and for the landing of whale carcasses. Whaling enjoyed a short-lived boom at Muizenberg from 1860 to 1880 after whaling stations had been forced to move initially from Simon’s Town and thereafter Kalk Bay as the stench from decomposing carcasses and the boiling of the blubber was repugnant to local residents.
The years 1880-1930 were without doubt the most important in the development of Muizenberg. It evolved from what was nothing more than a motley settlement of shacks and farmhouses into the premier holiday resort in Southern Africa – known as ‘the Brighton of South Africa’
Muizenberg has a fine, long beach that in effect stretches all the way round the top of False Bay to the Strand, a distance of over 20 km. False Bay, known for its population of White Sharks, also has a shark watch service that operates from Muizenberg, signalling alerts when sharks come in proximity of bathers and surfers. Above Muizenberg there is a line of steep cliffs that is very popular as a venue for rock climbing. However, certain parts of the cliff are off-limits to climbers when birds nest on the ledges.
The Zandvlei estuary enters the ocean in Muizenberg. The estuary is one of the most important estuaries for fish spawning on the coastline and is home to the Imperial Yacht Club and Peninsula Canoe Club.
The high-rise apartment tower (Cinnabar Building) houses one of the False Bay College campuses -the Public Further Education and Training Institution (FET) being established in September 2002. Muizenberg is also home to the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), a pan-African centre for education and research in mathematical sciences.