blooming dales

One of the few plants I can easily identify is the curiously named ‘banana shrimp’ variety of the heather Erica coccinea. The shrub’s tiny yellow flowers droop like mini bananas — or indeed shrimps. The surreal moniker helps with recall, but much of what I learnt at Grootbos has stuck with me.

Located a couple of hours from Cape Town, the 2,500-hectare private nature reserve overlooks Walker Bay. There are two luxury lodges — Garden and Forest — and two sleek, private villas. We all need to consider travelling less in order to reduce our carbon