Oh my Darling, a town in bloom

This morning I’ve been walking around singing “Oh my darling, oh my darling, oh my garden of delight”, I’m known to walk around singing and making up my own words to real tunes.  I’m sure you can find a clementine somewhere in the town of Darling but at this time what you will find in magnificent abundance are wildflowers.  I’m jumping from the first day of our flower seeking trip to the last because right now, when most West Coast and Namaqua areas flowers are dwindling, Darling is at its glorious peak.

We did not stay in Darling, our last night was spent in Nieuwoudville. We took a detour to Darling on our way back to Cape Town on 7 September.  It made good sense to stop in for a wine tasting at Darling Cellars, the lovely lady there suggested going to the Oudepost Wildflower Reserve, turning off the Duckitt Nurseries sign board on the R315.

We were infinitely grateful for this recommendation.   In totality our walk at Oudepost revealed the most variety experienced at any of our stops.    Namaqua National Park, Ramskop in Clanwilliam and Oudepost were the places where we saw the most picturesque scenes of flowers en masse.

We were so enraptured that we flower gazed a little longer than we should have and almost missed our flight back to Joburg, but it was worth the stress.  If you live anywhere near Cape Town, I highly recommend that you take a drive out to Darling and experience the beauty in abundance.  It’s not a bad idea to stop at Darling Cellars either.