overberg
south africa
nature retreat & fynbos reserve
- home
- a sustainable operation
- accommodation
- fynbos suites
- homestead rooms
- homestead suite
- bar & dining
- horse trails
- hiking trails
- flora & fauna
- fynbos
- fynbos & fire
- indigenous forest
- birds
- land-creatures
- overberg
- overberg towns
- overberg beaches
- whales & sharks
- baardskeerdersbos
- activities
- location
- rates
- press clippings
- guest reviews
- contact
- bookmarks
From far, the hilly and mountainous lands of the fynbos reserve look clean, accessible and kind of bleak. When you start walking however, things become bushy and colourful and you realize immediately why the Southern Overberg is sometimes called "The Heart of the Cape Floral Kingdom", the smallest but richest of the 6 floral kingdoms in the world.
If you wish to know and explore fynbos, there are 800 hectares of various natural habitats and even more plant species to explore. Take a few steps and you pass by more plant-species than you would, driving a few kilometres in Europe. Drive a few kilometres and the chance is big that you are outside of the natural range of the plant you just saw.
The beauty of the Cape Floral Kingdom is most strikingly apparent during spring and autumn when most of the protea species show their colourful, big and bulky flower heads. Nevertheless every day of the year there are always several fynbos species flowering. Apart from the floristic wonders that have created themselves on this rocky and nutrient-poor soil, several smaller and larger creatures, some of which are endemic to this area, thrive very well.
It is especially the rich bird life from the large Blue Crane, South Africa' s national bird, to the smaller Cape Sugarbird (endemic to the Western Cape), that brings people from far to this area of the Southern Overberg.
In spite of their abundance in the Cape Floral Kingdom, the land-animals are mostly too shy to advertise their presence. The baboons in this area are still naturally wild and keep a safe distance from men, the six species of antelope, the presence whereof has been confirmed in the fynbos reserve, retreat to thick bush during the light of day and the presence of caracals, honey badgers and genets is sometimes established by a quick shadow but mostly on the basis of the very down to earth art of analyzing faeces. That the Cape leopard is here as well, we only know from claw marks in a tree, but he or she will – no doubt – see us.
The tortoises, mongooses and various reptiles at least have the decency to show some land-animal visibility in the Cape Floral Kingdom. And since we are talking about tortoises, please drive slowly when you take the turn of to the fynbos reserve of farm 215.
The library on farm 215 has an extensive book-collection on all the natural features of the Western Cape and the Overberg in particular.
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