The dry, sun-baked landscape of South Africa’s western coastal terrace is bounded to the east by the rugged Cedarberg mountain range and to the west by the rocky, wind-blown Atlantic coastline. an expected surprise in this forbidding terrain is the appearance every spring of colourful fields of exquisite wildflowers in Namaqualand, the West Coast’s most famous tourist attraction.

The West Coast extends north of Cape Town to the Namibian border, where the fringes of the Namib Desert epitomize the extremes of this vast, rain-deprived area. The arid, bleak and infertile vegetation zones support only hardy, drought-resistant succulents and geophytes.

Further inland the country’s wheat-belt centres on Malmesbury, and is an area of undulation golden corn whose texture changes constantly with the play of light on the rippling fields.

Although first appearances seem to indicate that the West Coast is a hot, barren wilderness, it is a magnet to visitors during the spring months when flowering daisies and gazanias paint the landscape with bold colour splashes. The region is also known for its spectacular walking and hiking trails in the Cedarberg Mountains, which are famous for their contorted rock formations and breathtaking views.