Did you know that Namaqua wines takes its name from the Namaqualand West Coast region – an area famous for transforming into a floral wonderland every year during spring? Indeed, the Cape Wild Flowers are one of the natural wonders of the world with a famed international reputation that attracts photographers, artists, botanists and sightseers from all around the globe.

The arid areas of the Cape West Coast and the semi-desert of Namaqualand receive little rain throughout the year, but after the winter rains from May to July/August, the normally dry landscape becomes a carpet of wildflowers with vibrant bands of gousblomme and vygies, as well as nemesias, lachenalias, babiana and ixias.

The Namaqua National Park is situated west of the N7, one of South Africa’s national roads. This conservation area is a great biodiversity hotspot with the highest concentration of succulent plants of any of the world’s arid regions. More than a thousand of its estimated 3 500 flora species cannot be found anywhere else in the world.

If you’d like to come and see the spectacular flower show, the best way to approach the flowers is from the north, as in spring, the sun is in the north. The flowers only come out in the sun, and always face the sun. So, if you are going right up north, drive there first, and then wind your way slowly down south

The best way to have a well-rounded trip would be to include the Namaqua West Coast National Park for its Postberg flowers, wildlife and birding, some of the quaint West Coast Towns like Paternoster, Yzerfontein and Saldanha, for their laid-back atmosphere and fresh seafood, the Cederberg for its rock art and mountain beauty, Wuppertal for its interesting history and Citrusdal for the beautiful orange orchards.