The Hantam

The Hantam area includes Nieuwoudtville, Calvinia and Loeriesfontein. The area is a floral delight, with a large variety of flowers discernible even from a slow moving vehicle. Upon stopping, more varieties were discovered hidden amongst the masses of flowers, which often stretched far and wide into the fields.

Although the Hantam includes areas covered in other pages in this site, this section was called the Hantam to give it an appropriate title. These pictures were taken south east of Nieuwoudtville.

The topography of the Hantam area is typical mesa, an example of which is in the top picture. Many of the fields passed when driving through the area were covered with large expanses of flowers; the main picture is just one small example of what was seen.

The Hantam mountain, situated near Calvinia, was unfortunately not visited. Calvinia is also well known for its spring flowers, and would be on the itinerary of any future trip. Hantam is the Khoi-Khoi word for "the mountain where the red bulbs grow". Many rare plants of great importance grow in the area, including Brunsvigia josephinae, Salvia granitica, Romulea Hantamensis, Gladiolus uysii and Hessa tenella.