There’s not a bushel of citrus nor an ear of maize to be seen on the pastures rolling inland from Kenton-on-Sea, an hour-and-a-half’s drive from Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) on South Africa’s east coast. The hills are waves of unblemished green, the plains rivers of hammered gold. African squill flocks the depressions, its inflorescence rising like pale flames against dawn’s pink light.

“They occur in colonies,” says Kariega Game Reserve guide Talent Kamwezi. “When these plants shoot, animals can be a little bit difficult to spot.”