Flower carpets
Orange and yellow.
LBM1948 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Winfried Bruenken (Amrum) — CC BY 3.0 · Winfried Bruenken (Amrum) — CC BY 3.0 · South African Tourism from South Africa — CC BY 2.0 · South African Tourism from South Africa — CC BY 2.0
Namaqua National Park lies on the Atlantic edge of Namaqualand in the Northern Cape, about 49 km in a straight line south-west of Springbok and 22 km north-west of Kamieskroon. Covering more than 1,300 square kilometres, it was established in 1999 to protect the region's unique flowers, growing out of the small Skilpad Nature Reserve set up in 1993. The park lies in the Succulent Karoo, a semi-desert biodiversity hotspot with the world's largest concentration of succulent plants: more than 5,000 plant species, about 40 per cent of them found nowhere else. Most of its rain falls between May and August. After good winter rains the land bursts into colour in spring, usually from about August to September, as carpets of orange, yellow, white and purple daisies cover the plains and hills. The park also has a wild coastline of white sand, rocky shores and Atlantic surf. A daily conservation fee applies. The flowers open in sunshine, so the best viewing is from late morning to mid-afternoon, and because they turn towards the sun, drive with the sun behind you. Some coastal routes need four-wheel drive.
Orange and yellow.
World's largest variety.
Atlantic surf.
Namaqualand, Northern Cape, South Africa
Usually August to September after winter rain.
Late morning to mid-afternoon, in sunshine.