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Overberg fire rages in South Africa
A devastating fire is raging in the Overberg region of South Africa‘s Western Cape. It started on a farm but rapidly spread to over areas destroying hundreds of acres. Sadly both the luxury guest lodge Farm 215 and the Grootbos Private Nature Reserve are both affected. Waterbombing helicopters have been activated to fight the blaze.
Paul Johnson
Paul Johnson is Editor of A Luxury Travel Blog and has worked in the travel industry for more than 30 years. He is Winner of the Innovations in Travel ‘Best Travel Influencer’ Award from WIRED magazine. In addition to other awards, the blog has also been voted “one of the world’s best travel blogs” and “best for luxury” by The Telegraph.
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Update regarding Farm 215: the guest house itself has not been hit by the fire directly, but the surrounding area has – very badly, in fact. Guests who have already booked to stay there are being given the option to cancel should they wish to do so, although it’s by no means necessary.
The recent Overberg fire that has burnt a staggering total of 42’000 hectares has indeed burnt vast tracts of the indigenous vegetation of the Cape Floral Kingdom called “fynbos”. With all the human tragedy involved, nature can cope. As a matter of fact “fynbos” needs to burn once every so many years in order to reproduce. A week after the fire, one can already see the striking red of the fire-lilies everywhere in the field and in a few months, all of the land will be covered with new growth and many flowers that have not been seen for several years. This area prepares for a botanical explosion !
Thank you for the update, Maarten. It sounds like it’s actually a perfect time to visit your place, on the contrary to what people might think. My parents are staying with you very soon… it sounds like they’ll be in for a colourful treat!
Maarten of Farm 215 kindly sent in some photographs, taken 8 days after the fire.
Thank you, Maarten!
Yes, we did stay with Maarten and Henki and they were kindness itself. We went on a 4×4 tour to see the full effects of the fire and the new growth, just 2 weeks after the fire was amazing. Maarten, and expert on fynbos, cut examples and they have survived the journey home to the UK and are still reminding us of a magical stay in the Overberg. Farm 215 has wonderful accommodation and food – the new accommodation will soon be ready and will be state of the art and eco friendly along with the new restaurant. We shall certainly return and look forward to seeing some of the new species.