When I arrived at the West Coast National Park, there was already a long queue of cars piled outside the gates. The wildflowers are blooming earlier than normal. I was fortunate last night at when I dined at a restaurant in one of the Luxury Hotels South Africa has to offer, when I over heard the conversation from the booth behind us. They were discussing taking a day excursion to the park just for the early blooming. That sounded like a marvellous idea, so I interrupted their conversation and asked if they would mind a tag along. They were so delighted at my suggestion and they even asked if I’d care to join them at their table. What a delightful couple.
People, kept arriving at the National Park, some riding bikes, others on foot, but mostly arriving in cars by the truck load. The wait wasn’t too terrible lone, besides I was in the company of one of the most fascinating couples I’ve ever met. They call themselves ‘travelers’. That’s what they do, the ‘travel’, from country to country, exploring new sites and finding isolated, out of the way towns and villages. But, this time they were here just for the blooming of the flowers.
We snaked our way into the Postberg Tsaarsbank region. We were all stunned at the site of the flowers. There were more than 20 varieties, like the common bushes in variegated greens. Most prominent amongst the greens were flowers in shades of fire orange, purple lilac and white, whiter than the sand dunes,and then the canary yellow and mustard. My new found companions and I travelled a little bit further along the Tsaarbank, passing people enjoying the lone weekend. Many were sitting in camping chairs and others were standing around picnic Ramada’s. As I looked around, I noticed that everyone seemed to be happy. Blooming flowers seem to have a wonderful effect on peoples moods.
Later on in the day, on our way back to the hotel, I realized that I spent over six hours in the park. It’s amazing, how time doesn’t seem to matter when you are in good company and in a beautiful surrounding.
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