Namaqualand's Flower Season in South Africa

About 4 000 species of plant lie dormant amongst the sand and stone, their germination dependent upon weather conditions. Each year's floral display is therefore unique, enticing itinerant flower-gazers along the far-flung length of the N7 to Namibia.

In this semi-desert, it is the uncertain winter rainfall that determines the flowers. Spring starts somewhere between August and September and timing is everything. The season begins in the Sandveld strip on the west coast and the area around Springbok and Steinkopf, further north.

As the weather becomes warmer the flowers flow eastward toward the mountains and on brightly-lit days between 11am and 4pm, with the sun at your back, the resulting full-frontal spectacle is positively psychedelic.

550 kilometres north of Cape Town and over a hundred kilometres from the west coast, the most popular flower routes cluster around Springbok, the only town worthy of the designation on the long march north to Namibia. 15 kilometres outside of Springbok is the 15 000 hectare Goegap Nature Reserve which encompasses the Hester Malan Wildflower Reserve.

Named after the wife of one of the apartheid era bureaucrats of the Cape, the reserve was extended in 1990 and also got a new name. Goegap is Nama for waterhole, an evocative title when summer temperatures can climb as high as 48° degrees C.

Driving, cycling and hiking trails promise close encounters with the 600 indigenous flower species, springbok, gemsbok and mountain zebra which call the Goegap home. The reserve's 17 kilometre circular driving route is on good roads with ample picnic sites and limited overnight facilities, including a self-catering group chalet and a smaller cottage.

Somewhat closer to Cape Town than the rest of the region's flower routes, the so-called Garden Route of Namaqualand is cooler than the hinterland and you're more likely to find flowers here late in the season. A dirt-road ramble through Kamieskroon, Leliefontein, and Garies via the Kamiesberg Pass offers history and scenery in equal measure.

The Leliefontein mission station has one of the oldest churches in Namaqualand while 10 kilometres down the Gamoep road there is a turn-off for Nourivier where traditional Nama reed huts may still be seen.