When it’s time to say it with flowers

If you’re lucky enough to have a special occasion to celebrate with your wife in August or September, forget buying an expensive bouquet and take her to Postberg in the West Coast National Park (WCNP) instead — it’s a memory neither of you will forget.

“Have you guys been north to Namaqualand this season”? asks a tour operator, keen to see where he can still take his busload of elderly tourists, so he can make good on his promises.

We tell him that indeed we have, and that the flowers from Goegap Nature Reserve outside Springbok right down to Landsplaas near Kotzesrus were the best we’d ever seen. And you’d think this coup would be enough for us itinerant gravel junkies, but when I later suggested to Annette we celebrate our wedding anniversary at the WCNP she agreed instantly and immediately started planning a gourmet picnic in her head.

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But spring flower bounty is never a guaranteed thing, even on the much-vaunted Postberg peninsula — the jewel in the southern west coast’s spring flower crown, a section of the park that is open to the public only in August and September.

I monitor the weather forecasts the week before and things are looking ominous; it seems a small front may eclipse our short window. Yet, two days before the outing it looks as if the front has weakened and there may only be a brief shower in the early hours of the morning, with full sun and 18°C temperatures forecast for the rest of the day. This news, with a friend’s photos of ebullient displays a few days before, boosts our hopes. 

As we drive towards Postberg in the midmorning lull before most of Cape Town arrives, we see very little evidence of the floral exuberance we’re hoping for. In fact we see nothing, no flowers, no animals, not even a lone tortoise padding over the road crying out to be saved. 

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A lone ketch anchored in the turquoise waters of Kraalbaai quells my anxiety as I recall the idyllic time Frank Wightman spent here on his yacht Wylo in the 1940s. It takes me back to a similarly beautiful bay, Saco do Céu (Place of God), where I anchored my own small yacht on the island of Ilha Grande, southwest of Rio de Janeiro — it seems like a lifetime ago.   

On the slow ascent towards Postberg’s viewpoint there are no spreads of the dazzling daisies you normally see on the open plain to the east. The mountain zebra, bontebok and eland I’ve spotted here before are also absent, so we head to Plankiesbaai and hope for the best.  

The minute we turn left we realise the flower show has simply relocated to the western lowlands of Postberg this year. Riotous, multicoloured tapestries of assorted asteraceae and swathes of lemon-yellow grielum entertain us all the way to Plankiesbaai. It’s the best we’ve seen in this part of the park and certainly a winning way to celebrate a special day.

Travel Notes     

Getting there: The WCNP is 100km from Cape Town. 

What sort of vehicle will I need to see the park: A normal sedan car with reasonable ground clearance will get you around the park. 

What to do here: Most visitors come here to see the phenomenal spring flowers, most of which are located in the Postberg section of the park, open only in August and September. But even when this section of the park is closed there’s still plenty to do here: picnic at the Atlantic-facing Tsaarsbank and keep an eye out for whales between August and October; bird watch at the hides of Geelbek and Abrahamskraal; hike and mountain bike on the numerous trails around the park; on a clear day, take in the view of Table Mountain from the Atlantic viewpoint; learn about Eve’s footprints (formed 117,000 years ago near Preekstoel) from replicas in the Geelbek Visitors Centre; and swim in the lagoon at Kraalbaai.

Accommodation options: The WCNP has several on-site cottages; houseboats are to rent at Kraalbaai, with many other options in Langebaan and Yzerfontein.

Suggested further reading: Discovering Southern Africa (TV Bulpin); Lagoon (Arne and Pat Schaefer); and A Giant in Hiding (Lawrence Green).

Best time of year to go: August and September.