By creating an account, I agree to the
Terms of service and Privacy policy
Choose your country and language:
Africa
Americas
Asia Pacific
Europe
FFrom huge whale skeletons that float in the air, an eccentric pipe collection, all manner of snakes and a cannon recovered from a famous shipwreck to an exciting outdoor dinosaur display where the exhibits “come alive”, the Port Elizabeth Museum at Bayworld caters for a whole family’s tastes and preferences.
The Port Elizabeth Museum at Bayworld had decidedly lacklustre beginnings back in 1856 when few of the town’s 7000 residents could be bothered with historical collections. However, 50 years later, a firecracker museum director called Mr. FW Fitzsimons turned it into a dynamic space.
Did You Know?
TThe Port Elizabeth Museum provided snake serum for World War II Allied Forces serving in North Africa.
SSuddenly, the formerly fast-asleep and run-down museum was offering intriguing exhibitions of live snakes and something called a “magic lantern show” – silent movies in their early stage, complete with a piano player providing the soundtrack from the side of the room.
Port Elizabeth Museum
IIn fact, the snakes were so popular that a dedicated Snake Park was built on the new museum grounds and the first handler became a bit of a legend. Snakes bit him at least once a year and yet he stayed in that job for three decades until old age claimed his life.
Then it was decided that a seal pool should be built on the premises. But, as lovely and sleek as a moustachioed seal can be, he is also a bit of a smelly fellow – and likes to bicker and bark a lot. The locals living around the museum objected so bitterly to the noise and smells coming from the seal pool that they went to court and had the creatures ousted from the museum.
TToday, the Port Elizabeth Museum at Bayworld is no less intriguing. Its exhibits include 1908-era dinosaur models and 1928 human anatomical models, one of the cannons brought up from the wreck of the Sacramento, bones of whales, an array of smoking pipes, historical outlines of the San and the Khoi, and a memorable recreation of the very large herbivorous dinosaur called the Algoasaurus.
Outside is a Dinosaur Park where the exhibits occasionally move and groan, to the delight of the children playing around them. And then there’s the Snake Park section, ever popular, complete with turtles, terrapins, a large array of safely stored snakes and a rather baleful-looking crocodile in its enclosure.
Behind the scenes at the Port Elizabeth Museum at Bayworld is probably where the real action is. It is here where there is a rather impressive series of research projects constantly on the go, ranging from investigations in various aspects of marine life to snake studies to projects focusing on marine archaeology, including the many shipwrecks along the coastline of the Eastern Cape province.
Related Articles
South Africa on social media
Useful links
Explore
