Cape West Coast, Namaqualand, South Africa

Cape West Coast & Namaqualand

Before you visit the Olifants River Wine Route, know that there are no whitewashed manors with Cape Dutch gables, nor any oak trees, nor 5-star restaurants. They have a wine co-op truck named Black Betsie, and their website carries an over-18 age restriction (South Africa’s legal drinking age). This isn’t your regular hop-off, hop-on wine tour.

The Olifant’s River Wine Route is NOT your typical Cape wine route. Instead there are the beautiful landscapes of the Cape West Coast, where you can be beside the sea, atop a mountain and knee-deep in daisies all in a day. If you’re up for a tasting adventure, in countryside that’s as complex as a fine wine's bouquet, the Olifants River Valley Wine Route will pop your cork.

They do things differently here. You’ll have to make appointments to visit many of the wineries because their winemaker is off in the vineyards somewhere, saving endangered tortoises or conserving succulent Karoo vegetation, in between making wine; and even then he/she might not come to the phone because they’re busy treading grapes.

At Vredendal’s Namaqua winery, thousands of hectares of vineyards, literally, flow to the ocean’s edge. Fussy Sauvignon Blancs and Pinot Noirs are nursed beside the Atlantic, while Colombar and Chenin Blanc thrive on the valley floor thanks to careful canopy management and micro-irrigation techniques. Have a bite to eat, and buy some of their affordable boxed wines to take with you (not for drinking en route, mind).

At Lutzville, you’ll find the second biggest cellar in South Africa and some very well-priced wines. Pick up some Vin de la Tortue at Stoumann Wines (proceeds go towards saving Namaqualand’s geometric tortoises), and call in at Rosslo and Teubes family estates.

Detour south-west to Seal Breeze winery for 100% handmade wine, or head coastward to Fryers Cove’s vineyards. Take home a bottle or 6 of Richard Fryer – a Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot blend – if it’s not sold out!

Klawer Cellars’ Birdfield Pinotage, wooded Voignier, and muscadels are worth stopping for; then finally on to Stellar Organics, South Africa’s biggest organic wine producer, for natural sweet wine that’s a taste of pure heaven.

Olifants River Wine Route

The West Coast is a region of contrast and beauty. Stretching over 400km from south to north, the region and its people offer the visitor a surprising variety of travel experiences and destinations. These include the beautiful, and at times desolate, coastal region with its magnificent lagoon and numerous small fishing villages; the grain and wine farms of the Swartland and Sandveld; the citrus, Rooibos and wines of the Olifantsrivier Valley; the spectacular magnificence of the scenic Cederberg and Groot Winterhoek Mountains and the arid beauty of Namaqualand and the Knersvlakte.

The West Coast Region is located along the South-West Coast of South Africa within the Western Cape Province. It extends from Blaauwberg in the Cape Metropolitan Area in the south, to the provincial border in Namaqualand in the north.

The West Coast Region borders on the Winelands District in the south, the Breede River District in the east, and the Northern Cape Province in the north and east. On the west, the region borders on the Atlantic Ocean, with its cold Benguela Current, which plays in important role in the ecology of the region.

Namaqualand

The Namaqualand dessert region of South Africa is world-famous for its stunning display of spring desert flowers. Found in the Northern Cape province, and ideal for hiking and driving tours, the area's exquisite natural beauty has to be seen to be believed.

Namaqualand's desert flowers are one of the most incredible spectacles in the world.

This arid desert area bursts into a spectacular and seemingly endless carpet of flowers come spring – this vast bloom happens roughly between August and October, depending on weather patterns – due to dormant seeds that lie in the dry earth for months waiting for the rains to descend.

The area stretches for approximately 500 kilometres north up the Cape coast and for 100 kilometres inland, and for most of the year it seems to be a dusty, flat and bleak semi-desert with diamonds as its only jewels.

But then, seemingly overnight, it becomes a veritable ocean of colour and scent.

Approximately 4 000 species of plants can be found here amongst the desert flowers of Namaqualand. Strange plants, such as the Namaqua Halfmens, dot the landscape, adding to its drama, while parks, like the Goegap and Hester Malan nature reserves, protect this unique and gorgeous landscape where more than 30 of South Africa's succulent plant species grow.

For a rugged travel experience visitors can embark on the 642 kilometre Namakwa 4x4 route, which runs along the Orange River to the ocean. The Richtersveld National Park in the Namaqualand's north-west corner, which is renowned for its Namaqualand desert flowers, also offers the country's largest mountain desert, which extends into Namibia.

The Namaqualand may be a desert for most of the year but its spectacle of spring flowers will stun even the most jaded traveller.

The desert flowers of Namaqualand typically bloom in late winter and early spring, a period lasting roughly from late August to October.

Cape West Coast, Namaqualand, South Africa, Cape Town, West Coast, Swartland, Namaqualand Flowers