29 Oct Stories From the Stacks – Artefacts

A regular series about the museum’s motoring memorabilia and behind-the-scenes activities, compiled and written by FMM’s Assistant Curator Sian Theron. This month, Sian wants to be your guide…

At the beginning of October I was fortunate to join one of our guides on a tourist guide training course. It was an informative and intensive two weeks of learning theory and practical guiding techniques and skills. We were taught much about South Africa’s history, geography and environment – including both the flora and fauna – and were given a very comprehensive look at the Western Cape environs of the Winelands, Overberg, Peninsula as well as Cape Town CBD.

The experience was an eye-opener to me, inasmuch that tourist guiding is not as straightforward as it may seem at first glance. FMM employs a number of full-time tourist guides to provide visitors with the best information possible about our exhibited vehicles. This service is something that many guests are not aware of, so allow me to invite you to let us guide you…

Our guides are available on site to help visitors get the best experience from their visit. Apart from providing basic background to the vehicles on display – all of which are identified with info boards – the guides also have interesting anecdotal knowledge of the vehicles and can provide the information in easily digestible sections.

While our guides’ primary task is to accompany visitors around the museum, they are also able to provide information on the surrounding areas for those who are not local and are looking for other interesting places to visit.

For anyone who would like to book a guided tour, it is best to make a request in the comment section of the online booking form. Visitors can request a guide on arrival, but as we have a limited number of guides available on any given day, they may already have been booked.

In addition to our resident guides, we also have a complement of student assistants. They, too, may be approached for assistance and information, and can also take guests around the museum.

If you prefer wandering the museum’s halls and discovering on your own, you are still welcome to ask for information from any of our staff.

So, if you are planning a visit in the coming season, do please let us guide you!