Grootbos and the Overberg: A must-do for a southern African safari.
My Best Bits (some) of South Africa Safari: 6a*
There’s a part of this country’s famed western and southern Cape province that in my subjective world of favourite places stands a little taller than the rest.
It’s that part of the Overberg that stretches from Hermanus and the Hemel-en-Aarde valley to Stanford and Kleinbaai. The same region that won the Responsible Tourism destination award in in 2015.
I like to think of it as the epicentre of the Cape Floral / Floristic Kingdom, the smallest yet far and away the most diverse of the six kingdoms on earth. It boasts more species than all of Europe, 2/3 found nowhere else on earth.
The Botanist and the Cape Floral Kingdom
That 2015 award was largely driven by a collection of people. Michael Lutzeyer is the face of the Lutzeyer family that with botanist Shaun Privett has created safari magnificence from a hillside that looked like drab scrub to most unfamiliar with fynbos. Privett is the sine qua non in the story of Grootbos Private Nature Reserve.
Without lions, rhinos, early-morning game drives and kills – and despite a couple devastating fires – Grootbos has long been raking in international awards and recognition. The once ‘humble’ lodge was replaced during Covid by an exquisite architectural structure.
The Floregium
And those fires inspired a creative thinking process that hs produced what Time magazine named in 2024 as one of the 300 places to see in the world – the Grootbos Florilegium. Here 44 botanical artists were invited invited to sketch and colour the Cape Floral Kingdom in which it finds itself. Another 150 pieces have been commissioned.
They celebrate this life of plants, and their pollinating birds, bees and insects.
As long as clients are interested in conservation, I try to make this biodiversity magnet a part of my safari itineraries. Because it’s about so much more than plants.
Speak to me about booking a personalised, thinking person’s safari. Guided and/or designed by myself.
*6b will celebrates other slices of safari magnificence from this region.
https://time.com/collections/worlds-greatest-places-2024/6992408/grootbos-florilegium