Spectacular super bloom transforms South African desert

Every spring, for a number of quick weeks, kaleidoscopic carpets of untamed flowers rework huge swathes of arid land alongside South Africa’s western seaboard right into a vivid explosion of color. These “tremendous blooms” happen in deserts and arid landscapes all over the world, however few are as constant or numerous as South Africa’s flower season.

Usually lasting for only a few weeks between late July and late September, the flowers are annuals and can die with the primary scorching winds of the yr, their seeds then mendacity dormant by means of the baking warmth of summer season till subsequent yr’s rains.

Photographer Tommy Trenchard captured this pure phenomenon.

“It is was a reasonably surreal sight” stated Trenchard, who stumbled throughout the flowers by likelihood on an anniversary getaway along with his spouse in South Africa’s Biedouw Valley.

“And the short-lived, ephemeral nature of this pure show simply makes it all of the extra particular. Individuals have a tendency to think about South Africa as a vacation spot to view wild animals, however its wild flower blooms rival something you may see on a typical safari.”

Pictures by Tommy Trenchard.