Question about a visit to South Africa

[Maggi Young]

Mary Yee on Facebook asks :  I will be in Capetown SA for business in late August/early Sept and would like to take a short trip to see wild flowers. Someone suggested the Namakwa region. If people have visited this region or have other suggestions for wildflower viewing near Capetown, I would appreciate hearing about it.

 Who can help with this query?

[David Nicholson]

South Africa perhaps wouldn't be the safest place in the World to visit would it?

[Maggi Young]

To be fair, David, there are dangers just about anywhere, be they natural or man-made.  Mind you, I may be being  too even-handed -the  Foreign Office  does give warnings! https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/south-africa

[Maggi Young]

A flowery place!  http://findtripinfo.com/south-africa/northern-cape/namakwa.html

[Darren]

Can recommend the little reserves around Darling at that time of year - for bulbs especially. Also the west coast national park at Langebaan. The wilder areas behind the Harold Porter gardens at Betty's bay are nice for Fynbos - with the added chance for whale watching. All not a huge distance from Cape Town, and quite safe.

[Maggi Young]

Rogan Roth - forumist from South Africa  tells me :
" I would be very hesitant to recommend any area for wild flower viewing as the punishing drought continues unabated. We'll have to see whether the rainfall this winter is anywhere near normal or not. I spent a view days in the hamlet of Middelpos (a wild flower "mecca") in early September last year and battled to find anything in flower.

I will write to the person directly and send her any information I have available but, in the meantime, keep well yourself and best regards to you and all."

[brianw]

Rogan is the obvious information source, but as an outdated visitor. I visited the Cape in RSA twice a few years apart ~2000 as short side visits while working much further east. Both times I stayed at a private b&b in Hout Bay. I explored the Cape peninsular itself, Table mountain and Kirstenbosch of course, and a short trip inland to Stellenbosch. I was out of season for the spring spectaculars but a lot to see all the same, especially if you like Penguins ;-) Although in those days they wandered around you and not behind fences etc. I was advised to stay out of Cape Town as I was on my own with a hire car.

One thing you do now have is Google Earth to see the roads and what may be visible from a potential b&b etc. A "settlement" sprang up opposite the b&b between my visits.