Flower Power in Namaqualand

There’s nothing as rewarding as a trip to the Namaqualand in spring.  Figuring out when spring has sprung is the question, traditionally we “celebrate” spring day on the 1^st September, but, we’ve not informed Nature.  

Our experience has been that the best flowers are to be seen during August.  Last year we went during the first week of August and we weren’t disappointed, this year we did it on the last weekend of August.   Although we saw huge swaths of beautiful flowers and especially along the West Coast, I think we missed that first flush of magnificence.  

We started our road trip early on Saturday morning, went up into the Ceres mountains to see the snow, but the rain had washed it all away, hard to believe but the pass had closed on Thursday due to heavy snowfalls, just goes to show, you snooze you lose.We meandered to Citrusdal through the Kouebokkeveld and Op-die-Berg, doing the dirt road, never a dull drive, and always beautiful.     Breakfast was our first stop in Citrusdal at a super little Coffee Shop in the Main Rd.After a hearty breakfast we headed up to Clanwilliam, avoiding the National Road and travelling on the gravel road on the right side of the river.   The views were stunning and a treat being on the other side of the river; we scooted right past all the road works.   Picked 4 fresh oranges off a tree, the smell and taste was fabulous.

We headed into Clanwilliam which was overflowing with weekenders enjoying the Clanwilliam flower festival and the streets were packed with various stalls and pedestrians.   Such a nice vibe on a gorgeous sunny day. We didn’t linger but kept on going to our destination in the Namaqualand National Park in the Sandveld.

This is always a treat; I catch my breath every year when I see those acres and acres of orange Namaqua Daisies.     Our room for the night was at the Skilpad Camp, adequate accommodations.   The staff are hilarious, here you truly experience West coast stoicism at its very best.   Precious bought us some biltong and droëwors at the farm stall and when asked what it was the lady said “Boerbok” – goat, that’s not possible, could be venison but not goat, but it did it for me, there’s no way on earth I could eat goat.She also knew all the flowers’ colloquial names; the one I remember is a particularly pretty yellow flower which she called Piet Snotjie, gorgeous.

The wind howled and continued to howl for the rest of our West coast meander.   Next day we set off fairly early, the flowers only open when the temperature reaches 18°C at about 10h00 in the morning, so it’s wise to wait and not leave too early.     We made our way to the coast, seeing lovely flowers especially along the way to Lambert’s Bay, the vygies were magnificent.   Sunday night was spent in Lambert’s Bay, at the Eureka Holiday Apartments.We enjoyed sunset at the harbour and supper there too.  On Monday morning we returned to the harbour to photograph the Gannets at the Bird sanctuary which is always an experience. Here one can see conservation at its very best with the successful breeding programmes. I’m not crazy about wind but this time we relished in the east wind as it changed the course of Gannet’s flight patterns!The rest of the day was spent at the West Coast national Park after lunch we did a slow drive around the park, saw a herd of Oryx and Bontebok, some good flowering was done and our last stop was at the beach, that’s where I’ll go next time, perfect picnic spot. I’ll also be making a reservation on a houseboat!