THE SHOW MUST GO ON
It always puts a spring in our step but the news that SA’s wildflower season has begun seems doubly delightful this year. Winter, let’s hope this signals that it’s definitely over and you’re well and truly packing. So long, then. It’s not us; it’s you.
August and September are prime time for the pernickety flowers which, in years of good rainfall, roll out across untrammelled swathes of the Western and Northern Cape. After a shocking seven years of drought, and an appropriately limp showing from our floral friends, good rains fell at last in the winter of 2020, letting the landscapes be painted with oranges, purples, yellows and whites.
This year’s flower season is expected to be similarly shameless, and the fields have already started to put on their party dresses.
The Postberg section of the West Coast National Park — about an hour from Cape Town and famed for its magical, multicoloured displays with a wide variety of species — is now open, but will only remain so until September 30. If you’re in a position to get there, go — though you may have to deal with traffic jams. There were last year.
The park’s acting manager, Pierre Nel, said this week that the area had received good rains this year, which “should make for an excellent viewing season”.
The flowers here are expected “to be good” from the second half of August up until mid-September.
Other places you can see them include the Tankwa Karoo National Park, Namaqua National Park and the Cederberg, where our picture was taken just last week.
It shows Honey, a resident horse on Enjo Nature Farm, stopping to smell the flowers. The small guest farm with self-catering cottages and campsites is in a valley in the foothills of the Cederberg Mountains well known for its wildflower displays.
The farm is in fact fully booked for this year’s season. Owner Lauren Bradley says you’ll typically find small guest farms in the valley booked out a year in advance, and that not even last year’s lockdown could put people off from “speculatively” reserving a spot — and for those optimistic flower enthusiasts, it’s paid off. Day trippers are welcome to pass through or even stop and picnic, but check in at reception first (see soulcountry.info or e-mail rocks@soulcountry.info). Enjo can also put you in touch with a guide who will bring you out from Clanwilliam, 32km west of the valley, but now is the time to get booking for 2022. Those determined to find a bed in the region this year should try the Clanwilliam Tourism office (clanwilliam.info )—and probably say a little prayer or two.
Clanwilliam, meanwhile, confirmed this week that it is going ahead with its famed wildflower show, cancelled last year due to Covid. The Clanwilliam Wildflower Society said on Facebook that the show would go on in the mountains and veld and in the town’s main street — “outside, in the open air where it is safe for everybody” — from August 27 until September 5.
To stand a chance of winning R500, tell us the name of the Cederberg valley, east of Clanwilliam, that is home to Enjo Nature Farm and currently in bloom. E-mail travelquiz@sundaytimes.co.za before noon on Tuesday August 10. Last week’s winner is Ciresh Singh. The correct answer was Sun City.