Where to find the best flowers - the colours of Namaqualand between Vredenburg and Van Rhynsdorp

These photos were taken between Vredenburg and Van Rhynsdorp on the west coast of the Western Cape, South Africa. A few tips to take in consideration if you want to photograph the flowers is to select a sunny and wind free day. If the sun is not shining, most of the flowers will not open. A windy day will give you blurry photos, unless you are a very experienced photographer. Take enough batteries for your camera as you will likely end up six to eight hours walking in the field. And lastly take the right shoes, those that are comfortable and easy to clean. Have a look what my shoes looked like at the end of the day of all the flower pollen - needless to say I could wear them only for field trips afterwards.

Visit to Mamre and Darling during the wild flower season

Mamre is an old mission station on the West Coast of South Africa. A section of the town is preserved so that the visitor can see how it was hundreds of years ago. During the wild flower flower season you will have the opportunity to photograph the unique Cape Dutch architecture while numerous wild flowers are in bloom. Darling is a popular tourist destination and home to Ducket Orchids, one of the biggest orchid nurseries in the world. There is an interesting museum and antique shop, wine farms and restaurants. Some farmers open the gates of their farms so that you can have a better and close up look of the wild flowers and bulbs that grow in the vicinity. Sometimes you have to drive for hundreds of kilometers to see flowering plants. There are always surprises like finding a rare plant in flower or rare birds like the blue crane which is South Africa's national bird.