Flower Adventure

“The flower doesn’t dream of the bee. It blossoms and the bee comes.”
Mark Nepo

A road-trip along the west coast of South Africa for an experience of a yearly floral kaleidoscope display that nature generously unlocks.

In the late winter and early spring (August and September), the ground-covering wild flowers transform the landscape from Cape Town all the way up to the famous Namaqualand.

Visiting the many quaint towns that are bursting at the seams with heritage are another reason to visit this side of the country.

Paternoster is one of them, a well-known popular fishing village. There is an unique, arty guest cottage called Ah! Guest House. You are treated to the most flavourful dinner and breakfast where local ingredients, such as the Asparagus Capensis / katdoring (type of a wild asparagus indigenous to South Africa and Namibia) are incorporated.

The West Coast National Park is nearby with its beautiful glistening sea and its own colourful landscape.

Cederberg Mountain Range and views at Elands Bay

Clanwilliam is another small town and it hosts an annual flower show with creative displays of indigenous flowers to meander through. Yellow Aloe Guesthouse is a cozy country style accommodation with the most prettiest and tranquil garden to stroll in.

***Flower show in the Harvester Church***

Calvinia is a town where one truly steps back in time. There is the Karoo-style guesthouse with a restaurant called Hantam Huis that is very much part of the town’s history. It is the oldest house in town dating back to 1854. We stayed at Die Dorphuis which dates back to the same period as Hantam Huis.

Nieuwoudtville is a town famous for their impressive 500 species of flowers and high concentration of geophytes (bulbs which bloom around March every year).