Spring in Paternoster: book now!

Two years in a row my mother and I drove up the West Coast of South Africa to look at the spring flowers. In 2006 we stopped over at Paternoster. And it was not until I looked at the picture below, taken then, of the dawn over the sea, and wondered why on earth I was awake at that time of day, that I rembemered that I did not get a wink of sleep back then, either! In a guest house...

A cupboard door in our bedroom kept opening mysteriously in the middle of the night. I would close it, it would swing open again, no matter how firmly I shut it. I decided it was a spook.

Something about the place...

If you love flowers, a trip to South Africa in the spring time, in late August through September, is something you should consider putting on your Must Do Before I Die list. It is unforgettably beautiful and it is unique.

A slideshow in my side bar covers the last flower trip I took with my mom, in 2007 (double click on it and it will become full page), but I did not have a blog when we took the first trip in 2006, so I may post the pictures in time for any flower lovers with the means to make travel plans for this September. The single most expensive item, of course, will be the airfare. But I cannot stress enough how worth it it would be, even if you save for a while and go another year.

There are so many places and landscapes to see that even one visit will but scratch the bejewelled surface.

But anyhow, this was our first stop on my fly-by-night visit. I think I was in and out of the country within seven days. Not long enough by any means but all the time I had. (And the airfare a generous gift, or it would never have happened.)

On a granite island in the sand of the Cape Columbine Nature Reserve we stopped for a typical Viljoen picnic of cold white wine, a confit of duck and more that I cannot remember.

The little grey backed gulls ate their cousins the ducks in confit form.

These lachenaleas were scattered as thickly as gems in a pirate's casket. I think they are L. mutabilis, growing out of nothing.

And that was just the start.