Our Family Day, such as it was, for the Feast of Tabernacles this year in Mossel Bay was held during the afternoon around the middle of the feast at a place called RedBerry Farm, which is located near George Airport. Admittedly, we did not have enough time at the farm to see it completely, but enough people did enough things to get a sense of the farm and what it has to offer. The farm closes at 4PM, which means that one has to be a bit of an early bird to see all that the place has to offer–and as we went after church we were only there for about three hours or so, which dramatically limited the possibilities of the farm.

One of the most notable aspects of the farm is that it appears to have dealt with the general problems that farms have in South Africa (and more generally around the world) by making itself a genuine tourist attraction. My mother and I spent most of our time enjoying the actual agricultural aspects of the farm, which included a very reasonably priced U-pick strawberries, which we have been able to enjoy now for a couple of days after having gone to the farm in our hotel room. A significant amount of space is devoted to what could be considered as agricultural pursuits, including several fields of strawberries (only one of which is open to the general public to pick from) and a small tea garden that is located in the main part of the grounds.

The vast majority of space, at least that which was visible to the general public, though, was devoted to more commercial means by which the farm offered enjoyment to young and old alike. There was a giant strawberry tower that one could climb in if one paid tickets to do so. Similarly, there were pony rides, go karts, a small train route, and a large permanent hedge maze–apparently the largest in Africa–that one could make one’s way through. All of these various amusement activities required the purchase of modestly priced tickets, though if one spent a whole day there and did all the activities they could sum up to be in the realm of $20 or so, which might not be expensive for an American tourist but would likely give pause to a South African one.

For adults, there were other amusements. My mother got some tasty Ceylon tea from the pizzeria, where I picked up a very inexpensive focaccia and feta cheese pizza that set me back $2 and was far larger than I would have needed for a snack, but I will not complain about getting more food than I bargained for. There were other restaurants on the grounds, including an ice cream stand, and besides the main place where one could get tickets as well as the plastic container for strawberries, there was also a store that sold the usual clothing to advertise the farm and even a small portable classroom that focused on education for girls. Before too long time was up, the place was closing, and our shuttle taxi had come to pick us up and return us to our hotel, but from what I could gather, everyone there seemed to be enjoying themselves, at least.