One of the most diverse regions of South Africa has got to be the Western Cape. Recognised as one of the most beautiful places on earth it offers a vast range of attractions, breathtaking sights and endless activities. It is a year round holiday destination attracting tourists from all over the world and it caters to everyone’s taste, no matter how fickle you are. The Western Cape has a varied yet mild climate and has a rich cultural heritage. The Capital Cape Town is known as the mother city of South Africa as this is where it all began. Cape Town is such a vibrant city with so much to do and see that you would need a lengthy holiday to tackle just some of it, this is however why the Cape keeps people coming back for more year after year.

Internationally the Western Cape is well known for it’s Fynbos Floral Kingdom which is the most diverse floral entity in the world. There are still new plant species being recorded all the time and the Fynbos biome is protected and heralded worldwide. It is however constantly under threat from development but environmentalists are quick to pounce and take action to ensure that the Fynbos is there for future generations to appreciate. Many communities have stood together and proclaimed conservancies to ensure that development is kept low-key and that new developments do not come along and bulldoze the fynbos without knowing what they are actually destroying.

The Cape Fynbos is as diverse as life itself. From Mitchell Krog's Cape Photography Collections. (Copyright Mitchell Krog - All Rights Reserved)

The diversity of fynbos plants is greater than that of the tropical rainforests, with over 9000 species of plants occurring in the area, (and new species being recorded annually) around 6200 of which are endemic, i.e. do not occur anywhere else in the world. Of the Ericas (Heaths/Heathers), 600 occur in the fynbos kingdom, while only 26 are found in the rest of the world. This is in an area of 46,000 km² – by comparison, the Netherlands, with an area of 33,000 km², has 1400 species, none of them endemic. Table Mountain in Cape Town supports 2200 species, more than the entire United Kingdom. Thus although the Fynbos comprises only 6% of the area of southern Africa it has half the species on the subcontinent, and in fact has almost 1 in 5 of all plant species in Africa.

Many of the fynbos seeds germinate only after the intense heat of a fire, and so fire is a necessary stage in the lives of almost all fynbos plants. Out of death comes new life, the simplicity of it is just beautiful. World Famous Rooibos Tea (Aspalathus linearis) and Honeybush Tea (Cyclopia intermedia) are of economic importance and are grown and harvested in large quantities in the Cederberg area. These two crops make up a very important export for South Africa and provides jobs to local communities. Proteas and other floral species are also grown in many areas and their flowers harvested for export, you will often see a King Protea (Protea cynaroides) when walking into an international hotel. Restios (Reeds) continue to be used for thatching as they have for hundreds or even thousands of years and there are many different species some growing only 30cm tall some 3 meters. Fynbos areas are popular attractions for tourists, especially in the vicinity of Cape Town, and are also important recreational areas for locals.

The Recognisable and Most Photographed Mountain in South Africa. Table Mountain panorama at sunset. From Mitchell Krog's Cape Photography Portfolio. (Copyright Mitchell Krog - All Rights Reserved)

The Cape attracts photographers from all over the world and there is no wonder why. The face of the Cape is constantly changing and as a photographer you could never dream of photographing it in it’s entirety in your lifetime but it certainly does not stop us trying. The coastal belt stretching from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth is so diverse just exploring one area properly could take months and with photography it’s all about timing. Those photographers unafraid to get their feet wet or put their camera equipment at risk in the icy cold waters of the Cape will be sure to return with beautiful images to treasure for a lifetime.

The well known and well photographed Kommetjie Lighthouse at Slangkop Punt near Cape Town. From Mitchell Krog's Cape Photography Collections. (Copyright Mitchell Krog - All Rights Reserved)

The first European to reach the cape was the Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias in 1488, who named it the “Cape of Storms” (Cabo das Tormentas). It was later renamed by John II of Portugal as “Cape of Good Hope” (Cabo da Boa Esperança) because of the great optimism engendered by the opening of a sea route to India and the East. Many a sea going vessel has fought the waters of the Cape during a storm and lost.

The Fairest Cape of Storms. This tiny panoramic image does no justice to the full sized image clocking in at around 84 megapixels. From Mitchell Krog's Cape Photography Portfolio. (Copyright Mitchell Krog - All Rights Reserved)

South African Fine-Art Landscape and Wildlife Photographer Mitchell Krog, regularly travels to the Western Cape for Photography. This is the first in a series of articles dealing with his Cape Photography trips and three never before published images are included in this article. Mitchell has spent much of his life in environmental and conservation circles and has spent years fighting for the protection of the fynbos against unscrupulous developers and golf estates. Mitchell has been writing environmental, horticultural, technology and photography articles for nearly 16 years and has been published both locally and internationally in all sorts of publications and web sites.