Stop And Smell The Flowers

And that’s not the only reason to take it slow between Springbok in the Northern Cape and Elandsbaai on the West Coast

- Ron Swilling

After winter rains, the weather has warmed up and there is no better time to take the slow road through the Northern and Western Cape, and revel in the blaze of flowers and splendid platteland hospitality this area is so famous for.

Which is why I found myself on the Cape to Namibia Route or rather, in my case, the Namibia to Cape. The small 10 000-hectare Goegap Nature Reserve on the outskirts of Springbok in the Northern Cape has one of the best flower displays in the far north, and slightly further south there’s good reason to take a break in Kamieskroon. For two months of the year, the small town dons its ball gown and is ablaze with Namaqua daisies and gousblommetjies (Gazania krebsiana).

At all times of the year, Kuiervreugde coffee shop – ‘where people come together in good cheer’ – is full of colour and charm. When I arrive, Peet Kruger is putting the finishing touches to the paintwork of a garden gnome, one of several that join the inspirational sayings and colourful murals outside.

Peet and his wife Elsa epitomise platteland hospitality, and share their home with passersby as the coffee shop is in a section of their house. Everything from the jams, chutneys, beskuit, koeksusters, and boerewors in their all day breakfasts, to the knitted beanies, crocheted blankets and wooden toys are tuisgebak or handmade, mostly by the Kruger couple.

From August to September Kuiervreugde transforms into a flower hotspot, and a flower central where information is shared by travellers. In the 16 years since the couple’s move here from Gauteng, Peet has kept his finger on the flower pulse and has become acquainted with the farmers in the area, gathering updates on where and when the flowers are blooming.