Cape Wild Flowers Aug 2023

This year we finally had the opportunity to make a lifetime dream come true – we went to see the wild flowers in the Western Cape. Every year around August and September the north western part of the Western Cape explodes in a mind blowing display of wild flowers that is world renowned. With good rains in the area the flowers promised to be spectacular, and they were! According to the oldest residents in Vanrhynsdorp, this year is the best that they have seen in their lifetimes! So we were blessed to go at the right time.

Getting there proved to be different! We used Google maps to show us the best way and chose to go from Port Elizabeth via the Langkloof, N1, the R303 to Citrusdal and then on to Clanwilliam. What we didn’t notice is a section of dirt road on the R303. In our defence, one has to blow the map up quite considerably to notice it. It was getting late when the tar suddenly ended, so I continued along the dirt road, which wasn’t bad. After about 15 km I started to get worried, so I stopped at some farm worker’s cottages and asked a man there if we were on the road to Citrusdal. He replied that we were and that we should continue, not turning off to the right or the left. Soon it started drizzling and the mist descended as we started up a radical mountain pass. It was extremely steep with very tight bends and every now and then I could feel the wheels spinning on the loose stones. I was relieved that we couldn’t see much apart from the road immediately in front of us. Carol gets very nervous when we are on narrow roads with no barriers to prevent us from plunging down the mountain side.

Beware of Google Maps!

We found out afterwards that it was the Middleberg pass, with many places where there were sheer dropoffs! Wagtail just sailed along behind us and soon we came down to level ground and reached the tar again. Not a trip I’d like to repeat in the rain and mist while towing! Anyway, we decided that it had been a good adventure and to chalk it up to experience.

When we finally got to Clanwilliam I tried phoning the campsite but got no reply, possibly due to loadshedding interfering with cell phone signals, so we stopped at a garage to ask for directions. The attendant told me exactly how to get there – 25km later we found out we were on completely the wrong road and had to turn around and retrace our steps. Thankfully, on the way back I managed to get through to the resort and got accurate directions. By this time it was already getting dark and we didn’t have very charitable thoughts about the petrol attendant!

We based ourselves at the Bulshoek Dam Resort. It about 17km outside Clanwilliam and is rustic but stunningly beautiful. The staff, Willem and Rene, are super friendly and helpful and made our stay a pleasant one. After the recent floods they have been working hard to get the camp shipshape again and, though the ground was still sodden, the camping was great. One of the things we love about camping is that you meet the nicest people. Basil & Pat, from Cape Town, gave us great advice on where and when to see the flowers and donated the map below. We hope to meet them again on our travels.

Wagtail at Bulshoek

View from our tent at Bulshoek

Clanwilliam is a pretty little town serving the surrounding farming areas and is the centre of the rooibos tea growing area. Interestingly, rooibos grows naturally only in the Cedarberg area and nowhere else in the world! The town is a very convenient base from which to make day trips to the surrounding flower areas and the Cedarberg. In town, a must visit is the Ramskop Nature Garden. There are more than 350 species of wild flower in the garden and one could easily spend half a day wandering along the well laid out paths. There are lovely views of the Cedarberg and the Clanwilliam dam. We also found a visit to the House of Rooibos centre very interesting.

View over the Clanwilliam dam from Ramskop Nature Garden

We made three day trips from Clanwilliam to see the flowers. The first was to the Biedouw Valley in the Cedarberg. A spectacular tar road takes you up into the mountains and then it’s a short hop on a dirt road to the valley. We came over a hill and started down a winding road into the valley and our breath was literally taken away! As far as the eye could see the veld was covered with flowers. The farmers in the valley have opened up their private tracks and there were quite a few vehicles (it was Sunday, bringing day trippers from Cape Town and other towns). The photos don’t do justice to the views, especially the panoramas, but we hope that you will be as awed as we were.

Cedarberg rock formations

Scenes from Biedouw Valley

The next trip was to Lamberts Bay, a quaint little fishing village 65kms to the west on the coast. On the way were were treated to more stunning displays of flowers. It’s home to a large breeding colony of Cape Gannets, one of my favourite sea birds. The colony nests on a small island that is connected to the mainland by the harbour breakwater. It is now a protected area, administered by Cape Nature. We’d last been here in 1984 and we wanted to see how they were surviving. According to the local information board, they are thriving and there are now approx 8000 breeding pairs. What is incredible is how they find their way to their own nest, which is just a scrape in the ground, amongst the thousands of birds. Apparently they have a very well defined visual image of the area and after making a number of low flights over the area to alert the neighbours of their arrival, they land gently right on target. On the rocks at the far end of the island there are Cape fur seals resting in the sun. There’s a good visitor centre nearby with excellent displays and info boards. We had lunch at Isabellas, a seafood restaurant in the harbour. It’s a pleasant place to eat with really friendly staff.

On the road to Lamberts Bay

Gannets and Seals

The next day we went to Vanrhynsdorp, some 75 km north of Clanwilliam. It’s a lovely little town on the edge of the Knersvlakte and a flower hotspot. We found an incredible display of purple and pale yellow flowers right in town and then took the Gifsberg road (past the caravan park) and turned off onto the track to Unionskraal. It’s rough, but driving slowly we had no problems in the Passat. It was breathtaking – kilometers and kilometers of flowers as far as the eye could see. We had a picnic lunch along the road before linking up with a road that led back into town, a round trip of about 18km.

Vanrhynsdorp and surrounding area

Wherever we looked at flowers, we found that one has to get out and wander among them to appreciate the diversity of shapes, sizes and colours. Looking at them from a distance, one sees only a carpet of colour. How amazing God’s creation is! There is an incredible free app called Clanflora, which helps one identify over 600 flowers in the region. It’s available on Google Play.

So many shapes and colours

Here are some excellent tips for getting the most out of your flower viewing, courtesy of https://www.cedarberg-travel.com

Below is a map of the area.

What wonderful memories we shall always treasure from this trip! It’s definitely a must do if you’re interested in exploring our beautiful country. Even out of flower season, there’s spectacular scenery and an abundance of things to see and do in the area. Click on the highlighted town names in the text above to find out more.

Enjoyed this post? Click here to get updates on our travels. Please feel free to share your comments and suggestions in the Comment section below. We’d love to hear from you.