There’s no need for cabin fever or bored kids this upcoming holidays… Why not plan a road trip with the family and kids? It’s a wonderful way to keep the kids entertained and a great escape from the bustling city for the whole family.
Also read: Want to know more interesting things about the wildflowers?
Start your journey from Cape Town and then make your way up to Namaqualand. The Namaqualand Flower Route is a stretch of road that connects the towns, cities, national parks and reserves that claims South Africa’s most impressive wildflower displays.
The real flower show belongs to a series of drives that centre on the towns of Garies, Springbok, Kamieskroon and Port Nolloth, way up the N7. With springtime here, the region has a spectacular flowering life boasting more colours than seems possible for one place.
As you make your way to Namaqualand, here are a few must-stops along the route to do:
1. Visit the Skilpad Nature Reserve:
The Skilpad Wild Flower Reserve is renowned as one of the prime locations for the annual spring flower displays in Namakwaland from August to October.
Because of its location, 700 metres above sea level up on a ridge of hills fairly close to the coast, mists and rain blow in from the sea over the reserve. As a result, the reserve has incredible flower displays from white, yellow and orange daisies to admire and to snap the most breathtaking pictures among them.
- Location: Skilpad Wild Flower Reserve, Garies, Namakwa, Northern Cape
- Operation times: Open daily during the Flower Season from 8am-5pm
2. Visit the Fred Turner Windpump museum:
If you love windmills then you must go to Loeriesfontein. It’s the home of the “steel flowers”. There is no better starting point to explore the history of the windpump in South Africa than at the Fred Turner Windmill Museum which is definitely worth a visit. You’ll find them in all shapes and sizes – a collection of 27 old wind pumps are located there, creaking and straining at their chains.
- Location: Lombard Street, Loeriesfontein
- Operating times: Mondays to Sundays, 9am-5pm
3. Eat at the Rooi Spinnekop Restaurant:
Crayfish on the West Coast are referred to as “Rooi Spinnekoppe”, hence where the restaurant derived its name. Get welcomed by a charming atmosphere that makes it an incredible dining experience. Renowned for its mouth-watering West Coast cuisine, from plump seafood to light lunches that can be paired with lovely wines to accompany its robust West Coast-inspired menu.
- Location: Hondeklip Bay
- Open times: Monday to Saturday from 9am-8pm
4. Visit Port Nolloth’s Lighthouse:
Port Nolloth Lighthouse, aside from it being the most northern lighthouse on the western side of South Africa is also a rather unusual-looking lighthouse. It is an eleven metres high aluminium lattice tower with a triangular day marker in black and white stripes that gives it a rather distinctive air.
- Location: Port Nolloth, Northern Cape, South Africa
5. Snap a picture at Calvinia’s Post Box:
Calvinia may not be a buzzing urban hub of glitz and glamour, but it certainly has its own quaint appeal. Stand in front of the biggest post box in the world. This isn’t any ordinary post box, of course. Yes, it’s red and it functions like other post boxes. But, the over 6 metres tall post box is a popular landmark and backdrop for excellent tourist photographs.
In fact, it is the most photographed attraction in the town.
- Location: Hoop Street, Calvinia
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Picture: Skilpad Nature Reserve/ Facebook
