Namaqualand Flower Tour - South Africa
Experience the splendour of fields of spring annuals in an otherwise arid, semi-desert region in the Western and Northern Cape, South Africa.
An early start from Cape Town takes us north to our destination for the first night, Kamieskroon. After a tea break at the Kardoesie farm stall on top of the Piekenierskloof Pass we travel on to Vanrhynsdorp, where we will walk the world’s only quartz succulent trail and visit the biggest nursery of these fascinating plants in the world. Three botanical biomes converge here, namely the Nama-Karoo vegetation, Knersvlakte succulents and Cape fynbos in the mountains. This botanical diversity explodes into a kaleidoscope of colour every spring.
On the way to Kamieskroon we turn off onto gravel roads wherever there are good opportunities for viewing flowers at that time. This could include a drive towards the Groenriviermond or to Kamieskroon via Leliefontein, the oldest mission station in Namaqualand.
We overnight at the Gousblom B&B in Kamieskroon, where we will also have typical South African country cuisine for dinner.
Day 2 – 21 August 2010:
We leave after breakfast for the Skilpad section of the Namaqua National Park. This park is a “must visit” for any flower tour. Fields of dazzling coloured daisies will delight us. After a few hours of enjoying the flowers we have to move on to Springbok and the Goegap Nature Reserve. This 15 000 ha reserve offers spectacular fields of wild flowers amongst very interesting rocky “koppies”, 45 species of mammals and good birdwatching opportunities.
We overnight in Springbok, the capital of Namaqualand.
Day 3 – 22 August 2010:
After an early breakfast we leave on a drive towards the Spektakel Pass in the direction of Kleinzee, looking at the scenery and flowers. Then we head back south again, as we have some distance to travel to our next overnight stop: Nieuwoudtville, the Bulb Capital of the World.
Nieuwoudtville is situated at the point where 4 eco-systems meet. The Hantan National Botanical Garden was established by SANBI on the well known Glen Lyon Conservation Farm of Neil and Neva MacGregor. We will spend some time looking at beautiful spring annuals and bulbs here. The day will be too short to fit in everything that can be done and seen, so we will have to choose between the Nieuwoudtville Waterfall reserve, the Kokerboom Forest, the Oorlogskloof Nature Reserve and many back roads to explore.
We overnight on the farm Oorlogskloof, 9 km south of Nieuwoudtville.
Day 4 – 23 August 2010:
We leave after breakfast for Clanwilliam via the back roads, going over the Botterkloof Pass, into the Biedow Valley and Pakhuis Pass, enjoying flowers and the spectacular rock formations of the Cederberg Mountains. We stop at the graves of the Englishman and the well-known medical doctor, poet and author of cook books, C. Louis Leipoldt. At Clanwilliam we stop for lunch and a visit to the beautiful Ramskop Nature Reserve and wild flower garden. After this we go on a 4X4 flower safari on the eco-farm Elandsberg on the way to our next overnight-stop on the farm Boegoeberg. This is a Rooibos Tea farm in the mountains near Graafwater. Sybrie de Beer and his daughter Julize will treat us with real “boere gasvryheid” (farmer's hospitality).
Day 5 – 24 August 2010:
All good things come to and end, and today we do our last lap on our way back to Cape Town. After a real “boere brekvis” (farmer's breakfast) and a tour of the farm we leave for Lambert’s Bay where we will have lunch and visit the breeding colony of Cape Gannets. Then we take the iron ore railway line toll road to Elands Bay and with the R27 to Yzerfontein and back to Cape Town, stopping to look at the typical flowers of the West Coast on the way.
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