The capital of color: Springbok, Namaqualand

A view of Springbok--largest town in the nearly mythical realm of Nanaqualand. This picture was taken near the top of a spectacular hill chockablock full of botanical treasure--another story. Our two full weeks in Namaqualand were full of superbloom--it's a very good year there--and ironically some of the best bloom was right in the heart of Springbok! This blog will touch on that a bit!

This is about ground zero in the town: most of the building is in the higher ground at the base of the hill--also on the other side of the mountain. A huge swath--200 acres? hard to tell--smack dab in the center of the town is a mad conglomeration of color--mostly Osteospermum hyoseroides--but a half dozen other annual daisies as well. And much much more as you will see...

You can see one of my very favorite interlopers scattered in the foreground...

We found Lapeirousia silenoides growing abundantly all over Namaqualand: such a stunning flower never loses it's allure, no matter how common.

If there were only a hardy form of this gem!

We found amazing Arctotis and Gazania all over Namaqualand..worth a blog in their own right. I believe this is Arctotis canescens--which I think is perennial in this climate. 

There were two Babiana scattered EVERYWHERE on the flats and on the mountain. This one is Babiana curviscapa

And this is Babiana flabellifolia: I must have taken a dozen pictures of this--just love the true blue color!

Not far out of Springbok was ANOTHER superbloom--this time mostly succulents. I have had a love affair with Cheiridopsis namaquensis for a long time. I have even overwintered it (as C. cigarettifera a name I loved!). The Springbok form isn't likely to be hardy--but it extends a long way up the Roggeveld plateau where it gets very cold. I have seen this species many times--but never in such untold numbers!

The variation was amazing.

The rains had brought on prodigal bloom

Walking through acres of these was surrealistic!

You do not want to have to see all the pictures I took of these...but I have to share a few...

And then we found a white one!

Here we are looking on the OTHER side of the magical mountain (the contents of which would need a dozen blog posts to share properly)...but do linger on the next few frames as I zero in on a HERO!

This was my tenth trip to South Africa. The last four trips I took were led by this amazing gentleman...

Karel DuToit was born on a farm south of Springbok near Garies (we visited there--driving through perhaps a hundred miles of solid superbloom incidentally).  But Springbok is his home for many years. He actually is wearing a Springbok drawing on his shirt and he's a big fan of the Springbok rugby team (he played rugby professionally too many decades ago!).

It would take a long time to fully limn Karel's many merits: he's been a highly acclaimed police officer for nearly four decades--no one has arrested more poachers in South Africa than he has (the numbers are in the 500's). His commitment to conservation, to Nature is unparalleled.

We were privileged to have dinner at his home with his family twice during our visit--and after my fourth trip with Karel I can honestly say I have never traveled with a more knowledgeable, fun and dynamic leader. His knowledge of the backroads, the farms, the vegetation, the animals is astonishing.

To spend two weeks with Karel in Namaqualand in a year of super superbloom was truly off the charts!

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! A big chunk of which we left among those flowers in Springbok, Karel!