Flowers are blooming in the Northern Cape’s Namaqua National Park after a season of good rains, with a far better show than in the past few years during the severe drought.
We chatted to Desiree van Schalkwyk, a receptionist in Namaqua National Park and asked whether the flowers were restricted to any particular areas. She said they can be found throughout the park.
When asked what her favourite flower is, she said, ‘The gousblom. The yellowy-orange flower is beautiful’. Desiree also said the flowers are blooming better than over the previous years and that they’re expected to bloom until the end of September.
Here are some of this year’s photos from the Northern Cape’s Namaqua region:
Namaqua West Coast is world renowned for its spectacular biodiversity. A vast number of plant species – many endemic – are represented in the region’s fynbos, salt marshes, vygieveld, gannabosveld, renosterveld and strandveld.
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This year the flowers are… https://t.co/Jm7fAPYwCx pic.twitter.com/HXcPPeNJUc— Namaqua West Coast (@visitNWC) August 15, 2019
Plan your trip
Need to know
The Namaqualand Flower Route starts about five hours away from Cape Town by car; prime season is from roughly mid-July to September. You want to be around Kamieskroon, Garies, Springbok and Nieuwoudtville. Get flower updates on the West Coast Flower Hotline, 063 724 6204, and the Namaqualand Flower Line, 072 760 6019.
Stay here
Kamieskroon Hotel is close to the Namaqua National Park. Prices range from R550 per person sharing a hotel room and R120 per person sharing a campsite. Call 027 672 1614.
If the little blossoms already showing their faces at Skilpad Rest Camp in @SANParks Namaqua National Park are anything to go by, it’s going to be a wonderful flower season this year!#ExploreKamiesberg #NorthernCape pic.twitter.com/SrTvD1K8cf
— ExploreKamiesberg (@kamiesberg) July 30, 2019
Flowers are not yet blooming in the Northern Cape’s Goegap Nature Reserve and it is unclear if there will be flowers there this year.
Featured image: Wikkimedia
