At 7am on a Monday morning we’re driving through the wilds of the Grootbos private nature reserve, outside Gansbaai in the Western Cape. We’re knocking about on the back of a game vehicle looking for proteas — which we find, along with Ericas, a multitude of grasses and a selection of incredibly interesting orchids. This isn’t entirely unusual — seeing plants in their natural habitat. But it does become novel when it’s part of a dedicated flower safari: hunting for flowers and their pollinators in the early morning sun throughout the 2,500ha reserve. 

“At Grootbos, we want to showcase the exceptional narratives of the flora and biodiversity of the Cape floral kingdom,” says Ruth Crichton, marketing manager of the private reserve. “This is the smallest, yet most biodiverse, of the world’s vegetation types.”..