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Thanks Dotty - useful! Jeroen.

Depends on the rains, but last week Aug is about the best 'guess', and you should be ok. Tried Garies?

Thanks for the tips. Booking for end August, found places to stay in Kamieskroon and Hondeklip Bay (which looks fantastically desolate!). Looking forward to this trip.

I'll be arriving late at Cape Town, spending a night in Darling... is there anything else on the route north towards Namaqua that's worth stopping for?
Anyone know where the last good supermarket is before reaching Kamieskroon?

Honnehok?

How about Lambert's Bay? We are planning to stop there for the Gannet colony which looks pretty impressive (We're also planning a trip from Cape Town up through Namaqualand in August.)

Of course, if you don't like birds, this might not be for you

Hi jeroenvm,

I live on the West Coast, want to share the following:

In 2007, the flowers peaked in the last week of August - it was a bumper season with fantastic flowers.

In 2008, we had much less flowers. We left for the Richtersveld on the 2nd of August, saw a lot of flowers right through Namaqualand. All these photos were taken on the 2 August 2008:






Returning 2 weeks later we hoped to see much more but fact is there was little left. By the end of August it was all over.

Last year, ie 2009, the flowers peaked early again - mid August. Again by the end of August we had little flowers left.

Last weekend I saw the first flowers blooming. Very little still but they are starting. As Bush Baptist said, it all depends on the rain/sun cycles. We need a good balance of both to have good flowers. Up to now we had good winter rains and as I am typing this we have sunshine - which is good. I would say there is a lot of luck involved when you do a booking to come and see the flowers. I have seen many tour buses driving around with disappointed tourists when they are either to early or to late, but mostly I must say, to late.

Thanks WeskusKlong - nice photos. So you reckon it'll peak in mid-August his year? Can't really shift travel dates so I hope late August will be good enough. Otherwise we'll just go to CT which we haven't visited yet...
I must say that back in Holland we know how to plan our flower season (and make more cash from it) much better than in SA

The difference here is our flowers grows wild in a very unpredictable and hostile habitat and we can't control the sower.

Greetings from a newbie. Could someone point me to a source of information on the state of the daisies and when would be a good time to visit Namaqualand for the spectacle.

Thank you.

Kevan

Hi Kevan

We have found the best month to be September. The flower season starts from July/August and ends in October but each year is different depending on the rains. September therefore is your best bet unleass you phone the Flowerline (between July and October) on 083 910 1028.

Last weekend in August seems to be among the best year after year.

I drove down from Port Nollothtoday. It is already starting.

On the heights between Garies & Kamieskroon, there were smatterings of colourful fields.
Around Van ryns Dorp and Klaver it was also starting.

The Olifants River valley also hasd a smattering of colour.

Hi everyone,
I am preparing a trip to Namaqualand and Richtersveld starting 20 Aug. In fact I am organising photographic safari/workshops.
I have been there several times but I do not know all the best places yet, so I would be delighted to get feedback on where the best landscapes/seascapes are when the flowers blossom.
For those who are looking for info on accommodation, I have compiled a list of places to stay during my research.

Dreamer cs - just back from Namaqualand. Beautiful area for a first-time visitor (having sun and 29 degrees after a long cold Joburg winter also helped), and we liked the flower fields even though all the locals were moaning saying it's really bad. At Skilpad there's plenty on bloom though it's near the end of the season. The owner of the Kamieskroon hotel gave us tips on other spots to the east of the N7 and we saw several other fields full of orange flowers, yellow ones south of Leliesfontein which is 50 bumpy kilometres southeast in the Kamiesberg range. Also spotted a Speckled Padloper tortoise crossing the road, wasn't counting on seeing any of those. Never saw a dassie too, so nice to see dozens of those scampering about. Hondeklip Baai does not have many flowers but we were told south at Spoegrivier is good - but 4x4 required.

Thank you jeroenvm Pleased you saw the beauty of this area. Will make enquiries at the hotel, thanks for the tip.
We are off this Thurs to stay at Skilpad for 3 nights and then are lucky enough to be going down to the Spoegrivier as well!!
You were so lucky to see the Speckled Padloper
Will let you have feedback as soon as possible on our return.