THE HISTORY
Negotiations commenced in 2001, and the dream was realized in 2003 – Kanon Private Nature Reserve. As the reserve is part of the Gouritz Eastern Coastal Corridor, it plays a major role in the conservation of this vital stretch of coastline, which has been tended and cosseted by members of the Kanon community for the past 60 years.
There is a story that is Cape Vacca.
It begins long before the arrival of the Portuguese in 1488; The Story of Man – so we are now being told – in the very beginning, is to be found in Mossel Bay. Archeological evidence shows that the Khoekhoen and the San are people of great antiquity – indeed the San have the oldest genetic stock of contemporary humanity.
Archaeologists believe that the first intertidal fish traps or vyvers may have been built during the later Stone Age between 7000 and 3 300 years ago. The low stone barriers were erected in the intertidal zones of sheltered rocky bays and can still be seen at various locations along the Cape coastline. The stone walls were packed in such a way that when the fish were swept into the bay at high tide they would be trapped in the enclosures when the tide receded. Researchers have suggested that these particular traps were built by the Khoekhoen when they first arrived in the area some 2000 years ago.