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Tourist Routes
Province: Northern Cape
Namakwari Route
Derived from the names Namaqualand and Kalahari - the route links Gauteng and the Western Cape, South Africa's two most urbanised areas - it offers the traveller an alternative view of the country. Tour the route between South Africa's Gateways - Cape Town via
Vanrhynsdorp In Namaqualand and the Kalahari to Johannesburg or Johannesburg via Vanrhynsdorp to Cape Town by car or in the comfort of a mainliner coach. Inside the triangle formed by the Western Cape, the Kalahari and the Karoo dwells an undiscovered yet fascinating tourist destination, the Namakwari.
For most South Africans a visit to this area is something they could only dream about Others believe that it is the sole prerogative of those able to afford luxury safaris or four wheel drive vehicles. Very few people are aware, however, of the excellent tar roads criss-crossing the area between the gateway cities of Johannesburg and Cape Town via Vanrhynsdorp at the crossing of the R27 = (R63/N14/N12/N10/N1)
East-West Route and N7 South-North Main Route. And fewer still know of the daily services Intercape offers in this region with comfortable, modern tour coaches with Vanrhynsdorp as major bus stop In the West Coast Region. Vanrhynsdorp is known as the southern gateway to
Namaqualand. In the Namakwari vast tracts of bleak, shimmering semi desert contrast dramatically with the lush vineyards filling the Orange River's fertile valleys. Once the borders of the Cape , the Kalahari was South Africa's Wild West and many a rogue and brigand sought refuge from the law in its far spaces and on the river's islands.
The legendary Koranna leader. Klaas Lukas, occupied the second biggest island on the river. He gave the Cape government and Reverend Christiaan Schroder the permission needed to establish missionary settlements on the north bank of the river. His edict led to the establishment of Keimoes and Abraham September, a freed slave, initiated irrigation along the Orange River. Klaas Island is now part of the Augrabies Falls National Park, where the deafening fury of a huge torrent of angry water plummeting 90m down a series of granite cataracts speaks volumes for the river's awesome power.
You can travel peacefully from a raisin processing plant to a catfish farm; from wine cellars to tearooms in the desert; from a luxurious lodge to the desolation of Verneukpan. Yet, not all is tamed. The mighty Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Africa's first transfrontier park (combining the Gemsbok National Park in Botswana and the Kalahari Gemsbok Park in South Africa), comprises two million hectares of sparsely vegetated, red sand dunes and dry riverbeds. The reserve provides sanctuary for antelope, gemsbok, springbok, blue wildebeest, red hartebeest, eland, lion, leopard, cheetah and smaller game. One of Africa's last true game reserves, the size of the park allows for the mass migration of different species, a sight including awe and deep-seated emotion.
The sun drenched Namakwari, with its ancient, undulating landscape and endless horizons, evokes memories of a land before time. An often bleak and forbidding country, its shimmering spaces spread out beneath an unrelenting, hot and metallic sky. It seduces the visitor and those living in its towns and villages with a disarming lack of pretension hiding an embarrassing wealth of natural and mineral riches. For between the simple sweep of its horizon, and the clean spherical arc of its cerulean sky, visitors will find historical towns and villages, the easy-going charm of the country and an always warm welcome.
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