If it’s August already, it means the wildflower season is officially upon us. Around this time of year, the first wild flowers start to show off in the Northern Cape in Namaqualand, then spread southwards through Nieuwoudtville until they reach the West Coast at the end of August.
Although this year’s flower season seems to be a bit delayed due to a lack of sufficient rainfall, we hope August will bring the necessary rain to ensure that these budding beauties still make their appearance. In the spirit of optimism and nostalgia we took a step back in time to find the best shots of last year’s wildflowers.
Namaqualand
The Namaqualand is home to more than 5 000 plant species and almost half of these plant species are endemic ─ they don’t exist anywhere else in the world! Here’s a taste of what Namaqualand’s flower hot spots looked like last year!
The daisies in Goegap Nature Reserve just outside of Springbok sure know how to put on a show!
Check out this little guy admiring the flowers in the Skilpad Wildflower Reserve in Namaqua National Park. This park is not only home to a variety of wildflowers, but also to the world’s smallest tortoise!
The Nieuwoudtville Flower Reserve offers various self-drive routes or, for the more adventurous, hiking trails into the koppies to admire the flowers from up close. These beauties were spotted last year:
Tankwa Karoo
The Tankwa Karoo National Park is usually covered in fields of yellow and white in the west and the purple, orange, red and pink beauties at the Roggeveld Escarpment. These pretty yellow fields sure did brighten up the Tankwa Karoo:
West Coast
From the scenic Cederberg to the unspoilt West Coast, travellers are annually greeted by a carpet of white and yellow wildflowers and a vibrant explosion of colour. We’re hoping this year will be no exception!
The Clanwilliam Wildflower Show in the Cederberg area arranges more than 350 of the region’s wildflowers in a natural landscape, whilst also raising public awareness on conservation issues. Last year’s beauties will give you a taste of what can be expected at this year’s show from 25 August – 2 September.
The Ramskop Nature Reserve in the Cederberg area, which also forms part of the Clanwilliam Wildflower Show, boasted with these lovely scenes during the previous wildflower season:
During spring West Coast National Park opens the Postberg Wildflower Reserve to the public who are usually rewarded with an exceptional array of wildflowers. This is what it looked like last year!
The Darling Wildflower Show celebrates more than 1200 different flower species found in the Renosterveld, Rietveld, Sandveld and Strandveld regions. Keep an eye out for these flowers at this year’s 100th show from 14 – 17 September:
If you’re also as hopeful as we are that the wildflowers will still make an appearance, click on the links below to book a stay in some of our best wildflower destinations!
Springbok | Kamieskroon | Nieuwoudtville | Vanrhynsdorp | Tankwa Karoo | Clanwilliam | Cederberg | Paternoster | Langebaan | Yzerfontein | Darling
Feature image: Daniëlle Terblanche
