Namaqualand, Northern Cape

Regarded as a portion of the Succulent Karoo, Namakwa forms part of the only arid hotspot in the world; is regarded as a biodiversity hotspot, and as such boasts the richest succulent flora on Earth. It extends from the Atlantic Ocean on the west coast, to the little town of Pofadder in the east, to the Orange River in the north, south to Garies, and includes the Hantam Karoo, along the southern border of the Northern Cape.

The Namakwa region of the Northern Cape is imbued with the story of the Namaqualand daisies; a brimming over of fertile flowers that transform the almost lifeless Namakwa into an exquisite floral display of beauty during spring. One for which people are more than willing to enter the hinterland of South Africa’s Northern Cape, to discover that the unspoilt vastness of Namaqualand and Hantam Karoo, which make up Namakwa, is far more than an area of sweltering extremes and dry earth under unforgiving skies.

Namakwa is indeed a thirsty earth, but one that is fascinating to travel. For visitors the explosion of wild flowers along the flower route from Springbok’s Goegap Nature Reserve to Kamieskroon’s Skilpad Wild Flower Reserve, is a phenomenon that combines incredible landscapes through remote little towns, like Pofadder, the Richtersveld National Park, the Hester Malan Wild Flower Garden, and the Namaqua National Park. The narrow window between July and September, in which the Namkwa casts off its dowdy desert cloak to transform its barrenness, relies heavily on good rainfall just before spring.

But then the Namakwa is not its flowers alone. Little historic towns that include quaint names like Kamieskroon, Aggeneys, Garies and Nieuwoudtville, are as much a part of the landscape as the incredible flora.

Beautiful women