Whoever wins this Land Rover Defender 90 at the end of the year will have a tough vehicle with a well-developed taste for adventure.
On a visit to Namaqualand to see the spring blossoms, the Getaway Land Rover and I tackled the rough and the smooth to find the best flower-spotting areas. Here’s our low-down on the Northern Cape’s flower land:
The blooms around Nieuwoudtville were dazzling in variety, from carpets of daisies to delicate petals of bulbs peeping out of the earth. Visit Matjiesfontein Farm, Hantam National Botanical Garden and the Groenrivier ruins for the best photo opportunities.
Namaqua National Park‘s Skilpad Reserve was a carpet of orange on the old fields of the former farm now incorporated into the park. Ironically, it’s only on disturbed land, such as old or fallowfields, where the massed carpet effect happens. In nature, variety is the name of the game and you’ll find drifts and clusters of blooms mixed together, rather than dense monocultures.
Goegap Nature Reserve outside Springbok was disappointing after two days of dry, dessicating winds, but some good rain should bring a new flush of flowers out. The road to nearby Concordia, however, yielded a pretty valley where a farmer has kindly left his gate open for flower lovers to wander around.
If you’d like to be in the draw to win this Land Rover Defender 90, a tough expedition vehicle worth R369 995, subscribe to Getaway. With our special subscription discount, it costs just R270 a year, or R22,50 per issue. Click here to subscribe to Getaway.
