Namaqualand (Nama Khoe people’s land) is an arid region of Namibia and South Africa, extending along the west coast over 1,000 km and covering a total area of 440,000 km2. It is divided by the lower course of the Orange River into two portions – Little Namaqualand to the south and Great Namaqualand to the north.
The area’s landscape ranges from an unexploited coastal strip in the west to semidesert areas in the northeast. Famed for its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, its wild flowers during spring, its wealth of minerals, and its cultural history, Namaqualand is a popular region for international and local tourists. The Namakwa coastline and the banks of the Orange River are popular for their hiking trails and off-roading routes.
The Namaqua National Park is situated west of the N7, one of South Africa’s national roads. This conservation area is a great biodiversity hotspot, with the highest concentration of succulent plants of any of the world’s arid regions. More than a thousand of its estimated 3500 floral species cannot be found anywhere else in the world.
The beginning of the flower season varies from year to year, but it usually occurs between August and October. The natural landscape is continually monitored with the first sign of spring and flower season being the arrival of Namakwa daisies. When purple vygies bloom, spring is coming to an end.
In late August each year, the normally barren landscape of the Namaqualand, along the western boundary of South Africa, is transformed into a vista of brightly colored daisies as far as the eye can see. The flowering of the Namaqualand daisies attracts close to 10,000 tourists per season to a part of the country that doesn’t get many visitors otherwise.
The mass growth of flower fields also provides for the proliferation of other plant and animal species. Because the flower bed is quite large, many insect and bird pollinators are attracted to the pollen and come here.
Although August to October is wildflower season, the flowers here bloom based on the actual rainfall and weather each year. Some years the flowers bloom early, some years the flowers bloom late. Depending on the amount of rain, the desert will choose the type of flower that blooms that year.
According to Wikipedia
