Just Dovey

The birds came in a rush, like a scatterbrained phalanx of fighter jets on low-elevation maneuvers.

- Jack Ballard

A dozen blue gray bodies hurtled toward the neatly crafted blind behind which I crouched on a folding stool. When the birds approached within 40 yards, I arose. They veered as if possessed with some sixth sense that enabled them to detect fully hidden hunters. I discharged both barrels of a 12-gauge over-and under, shot scattering harmlessly into the dusty field ahead of the blind and behind the birds as it had done on several previous encounters. My host had billed this as “some of the most challenging shooting in the world”; not a whiff of exaggeration sullied his proclamation.

Bloemfontain, located in the Free State province of South Africa, is the country’s judicial capital (its administrative and legislative capitals are located in Pretoria and Cape Town, respectively). Its metro area is home to over 700,000 inhabitants who enjoy a relatively warm climate where winter highs are typically in the 60s, and overnight lows fall a shade below freezing. The city and its surroundings receive annual precipitation of 22 inches. Roses adapt so well to its climate that the metropolis is nicknamed the “City of Roses” for the abundance of the romantic flowers adorning its streets, parks and gardens.

However, roses aren’t the only flower to flourish in the Bloemfontain area. Just outside the city lies one of the most productive areas in South Africa for sunflowers, crowned as the most important oilseed crop in the country. Peruse online listings for local vacation rentals, and you’ll encounter establishments such as the “Sunflower Place.” In 2015, a travel magazine listed the sunflower fields along the highway between Bloemfontain and Johannesburg as the second most impressive place in the nation to view flowers.