Hantam Botanical Gardens - One of the world’s botanical treasures

YYour life will be enriched if you take the drive from Cape Town up the West Coast to the 6 200ha Hantam Botanical Gardens, situated 5km outside the village of Nieuwoudtville on the Bokkeveld Plateau. 

At these botanical gardens you will find more bulbs, or geophytes, than anywhere else on the planet. The curator of this floral wonderland is Eugene Marinus, who moved here in 2008 after the Hantam Botanical Gardens were proclaimed as South Africa's 9th national botanical garden. It is the only national botanical garden in the Northern Cape province. 

'An incredible 1 350 plant species have been recorded on the Bokkeveld Plateau so far, and about a third of these are threatened with extinction,' Marinus explains. 

Peak season for the flowers is from August to mid-October, with a great variety of geophytes, annuals and succulent flowers appearing at this time, creating an intoxicating trail of colour. Some of the most spectacular geophytes are the brilliant blue Pride-of-Nieuwoudtville (Geissorhiza splendidissima), the sky-blue 'bloukalossie' (Ixia rapunculoides) and the two finest  Sparaxis  species - Sparaxis elegans  and  Sparaxis pillansii. 

Don't restrict your visit here to spring, however, because the bulb species start flowering after the first rains in March/April. With flowers come a great variety of birds, insects and animals, all gathering for the nectar. 

Nine superb trails have been created in this Karoo botanical garden. The trails have been designed to accommodate all ages and fitness levels, and range from 450m to 8.2km in length.