Wild flowers

Saturday 17th September

West Coast National Park, Western Cape Province

Table Mountain, seen from Cape Town's V&A Waterfront

Table Mountain revealed herself this morning in all her sun-bathed glory.  It has a rather captivating effect - everywhere you turn, it is there, somewhat like the Matterhorn in Switzerland.

We left Cape Town and headed north to the town of Darling, which was celebrating its annual wildflower show this weekend.  There were very few flowers to be found (they don't like to pick the wildflowers) but the whole thing affords an opportunity for a giant party - stalls, good food, wine tasting and merriment aplenty, plus we were able to get our hands on some pofertjies, which put me in seventh heaven.

Wild flowers in West Coast National Park

After there, we travelled on to West Coast National Park where we were able to see carpets of the wildflowers in the Postberg section, a restricted piece of land only open for two months of the year.  We also saw ostrich, wildebeest, springbok, bontebok, eland, kudu and many different species of bird.

We are spending the night in Duinepos Chalets, a community project to bring economic benefits to the people of Langebaan.  The authorities selected all of the owners, staff and contractors by door-to-door visits to the local settlements, and those involved have been running it now for over a decade.  The whole thing is run as an eco-tourism destination, using very few resources and channelling employment and profits into this remote area.  South Africa needs more endeavours like this to inject change and hope into some of its poorest communities.