While the word safari (from the Arabic safar, meaning ‘journey’) conjurs up images of the Big Five, it encompasses more than just wildlife on a large scale. It speaks instead to an experience of landscape – and of discoveries that shift your perspective of the world. The new ‘Botanical Art & Safari’ at Grootbos – a 70 000-acre private reserve overlooking Walker Bay, 30 minutes from Hermanus – taps into this spirit of the safari.
Here, the 4X4 game drive becomes a guided exploration of endemic fynbos, the flora that carpets the region’s mountains and dunes. Led by an expert guide (in our case, the poetically named Shiluva, which means ‘flower’ in Tsonga), guests explore terrain that changes almost daily as proteas, ericas and restios bloom fleetingly, some within a few kilometres of each other, and only at Grootbos. The pace is unhurried, the focus precise: a chance to stop, zoom in, and notice what most safaris overlook.
The journey ends at the Hannarie Wenhold Botanical Art Gallery, home to the celebrated Grootbos Florilegium. A living archive in art, the florilegium invites botanical artists from around the world to paint the flora of the Cape Floral Kingdom. The botanical illustrations capture not only the plants at Grootbos, but also their pollinators and habitat, thus preserving a fragile ecosystem in exquisite detail for generations to come.
Framed by sweeping mountain and ocean views, this is a safari of small things, a return to the word’s true meaning, and a reminder that the greatest journeys begin with attention.
Offered by Wilderness Touring Cape Town in partnership with Grootbos Private Nature Reserve, this full-day experience combines a guided 4×4 flower safari with a visit to the Hannarie Wenhold Botanical Art Gallery. It includes lunch at Grootbos, return transfers from Cape Town, and a private Wilderness guide.
