In Photos: Cape Town's Flowers Blossom In Season

Every year come mid-August, South Africa’s West Coast comes alive in a kaleidoscope of colour. In barren national parks, along busy roads and even on remote private farms, the land burst with multicoloured carpets of flowers, in a natural spectacle that has visitors from around the world clambering to witness.

The flowers don’t hang around for long. By late September – early spring in South Africa – they typically wilt away and return to their less colourful, dormant selves, where they’ll be waiting inconspicuously for another year. Yet, nature being nature, there’s no guarantee the flowers will even appear, with factors like drought and other weather conditions potentially limiting the numbers that appear each season. When all factors align, however, it’s a colourful natural phenomenon like few others in the world.

There are several key places to visit if you want to see the best of the flowers. Close to the city, Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens has several beds filled with various wildflowers, but if you want to experience them in their natural habitat – which you absolutely should – it pays to venture out of town.

Those serious about flowers make long pilgrimages to the Namaqualand, several hours from the city, while others venture into the mountainous Cederberg. Perhaps the easiest and most colourful displays are found just 90 minutes north of Cape Town, in a small section of the West Coast National Park known as Postberg. There, antelope and ostriches roam freely among the daisies, day trippers picnic and barbecue near the cool Atlantic and thousands of tourists drive the remote dirt roads absorbing the colourful annual display.

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.