A quiet movement is taking place across South Africa. It’s not focused on rushing between bucket-list destinations or sampling wine flights in manicured vineyards. Instead, it encourages people to slow down, step into the veld, and rediscover the wild pantry that has nourished the local population for centuries.
Foraging wants you to see the landscape differently. The bush becomes a kitchen, the coast a larder, and the mountains a teacher. It’s an adventure that connects flavour with place and culture, and it aligns beautifully with the ethos of purpose-driven travel.
Today, travellers are trading tastings for teachings, joining guides who understand not just what to pick, but how to protect the ecosystems that make these edible treasures possible.
Indigenous herbs and veld greens
Carissa macrocarpa in East London, Eastern Cape/SAPlants/Wikimedia Commons
Across the Cape and into the savannah margins, the veld offers an extraordinary variety of edible and medicinal plants. Indigenous herbs such as buchu, wild garlic and spekboom carry generations of traditional knowledge.
In the Cederberg and Overberg, you’ll find guided herb walks that introduce visitors to the aromatic leaves of Agathosma betulina (buchu), long used for its refreshing oils and flavour. Foragers are often surprised to discover that many familiar plants are edible in moderation: sour figs, pelargonium, wild mint and even the hardy num-num fruit of the Carissa macrocarpa.
Urban foragers around Cape Town have also started reclaiming these traditions. Seasonal workshops in Kirstenbosch and the Southern Peninsula teach how to identify local plants safely, harvest lightly, and use them in teas, herb butters, or salads. It’s both education and reconnection, one sprig at a time.
Mushrooms and forest discoveries
After rain, the scent of damp earth draws foragers into forests and mountain valleys. Mushroom foraging has become a fascinating seasonal pursuit in the Western Cape and along the Garden Route, where local experts guide small groups in search of porcini, pine rings and chanterelles.
At Grootbos Private Nature Reserve, guests can join a naturalist for a “fungi forage” that ends in a cooking demo using their freshly gathered finds. The golden rule is never to forage without an expert. Many mushrooms have poisonous lookalikes, and responsible guides emphasise identification, sustainability, and leaving part of each cluster intact to allow for regrowth.
Beyond the harvest, the experience is profoundly sensory. Something is grounding about crouching among the fynbos, brushing soil from a chanterelle, and knowing that the meal you’ll eat later came straight from the forest floor.
Coastal and intertidal edibles
Image of seaweed used for illustrative purposes/Wolfgang Hasselmann/Unsplash
Along the Cape Peninsula, the meeting of land and sea offers a completely different wild feast. Coastal foraging has become a sought-after experience for travellers eager to explore South Africa’s marine biodiversity.
Guides such as Roushanna Gray of Veld and Sea host immersive workshops that teach visitors to harvest edible seaweeds, dune spinach and even coastal herbs like samphire. Participants learn how to read tides, identify sustainable zones, and cook their haul into seaweed crisps or kelp noodle salads.
These walks often include storytelling about indigenous coastal cultures and their deep knowledge of marine plants. It’s a reminder that foraging is not a new trend but a continuation of ancient relationships with the ocean. The key lesson: take only what you need, and always allow the sea to recover what it has given.
How to forage responsibly
Foraging, when done right, is an act of respect. Here are the guiding principles to follow on any wild food adventure:
- Learn before you pick. Always go with an experienced guide or use a reliable field book. Misidentification can be harmful.
- Harvest lightly. Take only what you will use, and never strip a plant bare. Leave plenty for wildlife and regrowth.
- Avoid protected areas. Always check if you’re on public or private land, and obtain permission where needed.
- Respect cultural knowledge. Many indigenous communities have traditional relationships with these plants. Acknowledge their wisdom and avoid overharvesting sacred species.
- Leave no trace. Carry your own basket or cloth bag, avoid trampling, and never uproot entire plants.
Foraging can be a sustainable tourism practice, but only when travellers approach it with mindfulness and humility.
Guided experiences to try in South Africa
Veld and Sea, Western Cape
One of the country’s best-known foraging experiences, this coastal workshop explores edible seaweeds, herbs and flowers before turning the harvest into a shared meal.
Grootbos Private Nature Reserve, Gansbaai
This eco-lodge offers mushroom, fynbos and coastal foraging walks, highlighting how biodiversity supports both conservation and cuisine.
These experiences are ideal for travellers who want to learn hands-on and contribute to conservation-minded tourism.
From basket to kitchen
The joy of foraging doesn’t end with the walk. Cooking with wild ingredients is a celebration of flavour and place.
Fresh buchu leaves can be infused in vinegar or blended into a fynbos herb butter. Wild garlic adds punch to homemade bread or soups. Mushrooms transform simple dishes like risotto, while coastal seaweed brings minerality to broths and salads.
Start small, experiment safely, and always ensure what you’re using is edible. Most guided foraging experiences include a cooking or tasting element, turning the learning process into a delicious, shared memory.
A mindful way to travel
Foraging encourages a slower kind of tourism. It’s not about taking souvenirs but about understanding where food comes from and how ecosystems thrive. It invites travellers to engage with indigenous knowledge, to look closer, and to travel with intention.
South Africa’s landscapes are generous, but they ask for care. To forage responsibly is to practice gratitude – taking part in an ancient ritual that feeds both body and spirit. The next time you wander through fynbos or along a quiet beach, pause and look down. You might just discover that the country’s richest experiences grow wild and free.
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