Dis weer Blomme tyd

Namaqualand Flower Route

Namaqualand Flower Route

The spring wild flowers are a phenomenon that never ceases to amaze and delight, even for those who live in what is considered South Africa's "outback" – Namaqualand. What at first glance appears to be a wilderness of semi-desert - arid, dusty plains that stretch before one, dramatic mountains in the background, with little by way of colour or animation - is suddenly transformed, as if by a painter with a manic palette, into a pageant of flowers.

The Namaqualand Flower Route lies roughly 5 hours north of Cape Town. You can already see evidence of flowers even in Cape Town, and Postberg, a small section of the West Coast National Park close to Langebaan, gets the juices flowing, but the real flower show belongs to a series of drives that centre on the towns of Garies, Springbok, Kamieskroon and Port Nolloth, way up the N7.

Namaqualand Flowers

In terms of natural selection these flowers have been selected for their ability to survive and indeed multiply in a somewhat hostile environment.   Dry and hot and dusty for much of the year, they all bring out their delightful flowers in spring, to make the most of the short period before the drought once again settles in, to be pollinated and produce seed, which may lie inactive in the soil for many years.  It is difficult to believe that they bring forth their glory simply to attract bees and butterflies and other insects.

There are enormous stores of seed in the soil of the Richtersveld and Namaqualand.  These plants have adapted to remain inactive in the soil for many years, and only germinate when the conditions are right ... rain during mid-winter, and hopefully lasting through to springtime.  Many of these species have some sort of built in randomiser, so that in any one year only a small percentage of the seeds germinate.  If the initial winter rains do not follow through to the spring, then all is not lost ... there are many more seeds in reserve for the following years.  And when a good year comes, enormous quantities of seed are produced, renewing the reserves in the soil for future years. Different seeds germinate under different conditions of temperature and moisture, so the predominant flowers in each area will be different from year to year, depending on when the first rains fall.

Pofadder Namaqualand

The very little town of Pofadder lies surrounded by rugged, sparsely populated and very scenic countryside. Here locals make their money from sheep or goats farming, and there seems little more to entice you to visit the town than its position on the main route from Upington to Springbok, just 60kilometres from the Namibian border post.

Surrounding towns have equally sleepy backwater sounding names, like Aggeneys, Kakamas and Pella but there is something about this parched countryside that is appealing and, certainly in spring, the blanket of incredible flowers that brighten this part of the world makes a visit here worth the drive. Pofadder is, in fact a great place to overnight and the wee town provides a more than welcome break from endlessly straight roads through the Kalahari plains.

Pofadder has quite a history too. It might be little more than a couple of tar roads, a café, church and hotel, but there was quite a resistance mounted by the original Koranna people (offshoots of the Khoi-Khoi) who made this part of the country their home back when a mission station was set up here in 1875. The station was named Pofadder, not after the snake of the same name as many assume, but after the local Koranna chief. A few fresh water springs, called the Koranna springs, were what attracted these people here originally, and a town soon followed in 1918, officially called Theronsville. Pofadder, however, stuck, and the official name soon followed suit and reverted.

In August this is a great little base from which to explore the Namaqualand daisies, and there is a hiking trail, called the Pofadder hiking trail, in the vicinity.