Namaqualand, Namaqua National Park and
Goegap Nature Reserve
Between July and September Namakwa sheds its drab façade and showers the world with flowers of every hue. Nature sheds any pretence at barren aridity and runs riot with tones and rainbow hues of rich and splendid brilliance.
Infusing the air with fantasy and delight, she takes our senses and sends them soaring on flights of floral fancy before returning us gentle to earth at the onset of summer.
Too soon the show is over and the freshly-spilled seeds hide, once again, beneath the soil, awaiting the onset of the first rains of a new and far-off spring.
The splendor of the flowers depends heavily on a good rainfall. Strangely, the explosion of spring brilliance almost hides the provinces greater floral wealth, a seemingly infinite collection of freshly-branched, small-leafed and wax-covered succulents.
The San drew latex for their poison arrows from the Euphorbia virosa, a member of the euphorbia family, spiky ornaments of the veld. The rare haunting halfmens(“half-person” or Pachypodium namaquanum) is peculiar to northern Namakwa.
Tall, slender prehistoric plants capped by rosettes of small leaves, the legend is told that the Nama, fleeing from the north, crossed the Orange River and longingly back on their homeland. Pitying them, God transformed them into these succulents so that they could look at the land of their origin forever.
Namakwa, as part of the Succulent Karoo, is a biodiversity hotpot and as such is the only arid hotspot in the world. It contains more than 6000 plant species, 250 species of birds, 78 species of mammals, 132 species of reptiles and amphibians and an unknown number of insects making it the worlds diverse, arid environment. More than 40% of these species are found nowhere else on Earth. The world’s largest forest of quiver trees or kokerbome (Aloe dichotoma) lie outside Loeriesfontein, Kenhardt and Onseepkans.
Owing its name to the San, who used the trunk, branches and its bark to make quivers, the aloe grows to four metres, stores water in its trunk, resists drought and lives up to 400 years. Often the only trees for miles, their spiky branches are popular nesting places for sociable weavers, builders of the most intricate nesting systems in the world.
The sterboom ridges of the Nuweveld mountain where it finds shelter from the blazing sun. The park and nature reserves are amongst the best places to view this floral wonderland.
The 103 00ha Namaqua National Park, 22km north-west of Kamieskroom, is open to the public throughout the year. A circular drive lets visitors experience a wide floral display. Tel 027 672 1948 (the tourism office).
15 km southeast of Springbok is Goegap nature Reserve, 15 000ha of typically rocky granitic, rocky hills and sandy flats. It supports 600 indigenous flower species, 45 mammal species and 94 bird species. The Hester Malan Wild Flower Garden showcases a spectacular number of indigenous succulents. Limited accommodation is available.
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