Cape Town has not had nearly enough rain this winter YET reports on the Spring Flowers in the Postberg Flower Reserve, in the West Coast National Park have been phenomenal! Proof of this was from mid-August the flowers started flowering and the crowds have been flocking to the park.
Saturday 27th August and it was the time for Traveltime to head into the park, the third visit this month.
Excitement was paramount in our office when CAPE TALK approached us on the Friday morning for a ‘live interview’ about the Spring Flowers, on Friday afternoon. Cape Town was ‘buzzing’ about the start of Spring and the flower season. Brian handled the interview like a pro – the local ‘expert’ on the WCNP!
On Saturday we approached the gates of the park to find a queue on the R27 at 11h10. It took us 55 minutes to get into the park. In past visits there were less than 10 vehicles at the entrance when we arrived! Amazing what lengths people go to to get in quicker! Like driving up the hill – doing a ‘U’ turn and joining line from the other side. People get angry at this – and almost ‘forced the intruders in the line’ – out-of-the-line.
However, all was forgotten once we were in the ‘peace’ of the West Coast National Park. Our first stop was down at the beach where we had a short stop. (Tsaarbank) – shortly after this we headed into Postberg where everyone was heard to “Ooh” and “Aah”.
The flowers indeed stood up and said “Hello” to everyone. The wonderful sights of the flowers was compounded by the animals in the background (Springbok skipping through the veld; Sable antelope up on the hill ; Zebras with their usual friends the Wildebeest) – oh what a great day we all had!
We took the coach up to the viewpoint over Langebaan where fields of blue flowers mixed with the yellow flowers are a sight to see! We could, unfortunately, not go into the parking area of the viewpoint – just too many cars there to turn the coach around.
Going down the hill we managed to get space to pull the coach off the road and one lady said to us “These flowers are the best I’ve EVER seen in the WCNP” – she is a regular and has come on our annual trip into the park every year for the past 5 years.
Lunch was late and we only all arrived at the Geelbek restaurant by 14h30. Their efficient staff had kept our table and as our orders had been phoned through earlier in the day, this meant that before our drinks had even arrived, the food was served. Top marks to Elmarie and her staff at Geelbek – on Saturday 27th they had served over 1,000 meals (at one stage near lunch they actually ‘closed’ their doors – so their kitchen could cope!)
Perhaps it was just as well that we arrived later than planned – we all enjoyed a good lunch!
FLOWERS ARE NATURE’S MESSENGERS – REMINDERS OF AN UNSPEAKABLE BEAUTY