Daisies among the klipkoppe

Is this a good year? How well the daisies and mesembs cover the sandy Namaqualand soil in late winter and early spring depends on rain and temperature. The late cold winds have to stay away.

Flower pageant visits are uncertain affairs, the region remote for most, making the decision and timing tricky. Informed advisors, potluck or serendipity, staying a few more days for driving (or walking) a bit further all play their role.

Remarkable sights are still presented unexpectedly in the average flower year, while unique specific rewards brighten up a generally grey spring. If you need to see plant variety more than football fields of daisies to achieve happiness on your trip, successful days can be ticked off far more frequently.

This half cloudy day offered great variety in the Goegap Nature Reserve near Springbok. There is enough of granite peaks apart from the Carolusberg, the Reserve’s tallest mountain to really experience the klipkoppe environment.

Driving (and hiking trails) will reveal a diversity of succulent plants from the kokerboom to a multitude of tiny ones, lower in the dust than the observers shoes. Mammals and birds to keep the children interested appear unpredictably, convincing the appreciative visitor to add more such places to a short term or bucket list.