The Northern Cape is South Africa’s most western semi desert area bordering Namibia and Botswana. When driving south-west from Johannesburg, the Northern Cape starts once you reach Kuruman. This is home of the The Eye – the biggest natural fountain in the southern hemisphere. This area is a vast semi desert area with extreme temperatures, punctuated with the simple stone buildings with large verandahs and wind pumps.
National Parks
There are three national parks of note in the Northern Cape. The Richtersveld Transfrontier Park is the driest area in South Africa and was formed in 2003 by the Namibia and South Africa governments. It contains 30% of South Africa’s succulent plants. Lizards are easily found baking in the sun, and leopards are said to roam the rocky outcrops.
Augrabies, in Khoi means ‘place of great noise’ and the world’s sixth largest waterfall this given the Augrabies Falls National Park its name. Visitors can explore the park on foot, following one of the hiking trails, or by canoeing in the Orange River area.
The third park, Kgaladi Transfrontier Park was formed by uniting South Africa’s Kalahari Gemsbok Park and Botswana’s Gemsbok National Park. Its 3.7 million hectares are home to gemsbok (oryx), springbok, blue wildebeest, red hartebeest and eland. It is also famous for the black-maned Kalahari lion, cheetah leopard, porcupine honey badger and 55 reptile species.
Diamonds
Kimberley is famous for diamonds. Once a hill, the Big Hole became the largest hand-dug excavation in the world after diamonds were discovered in 1871. Visitors can have an underground mine experience and step back in time in Old Town. Kimberley is also where Cecil John Rhodes started mining as a teenager. He eventually became the Prime Minister of the Cape Colony and Chairperson of De Beers.
Another interesting character of the area is Sol Plaatje, who translated the works of Shakespeare into Setswana and was one of the founding members of the ANC.
There were also many Anglo Boer War battles fought around Kimberley between 1899 and 1902. The Magersfontein and McGregor Museums are dedicated to the battles and the hardships of this war, fought over possession of land and the natural resources.
The area is dotted with Khoisan Rock art and rock gongs in the low rock ridges that dominate the area.
Flowers
The Namaqwa borders the South Atlantic Ocean and the Western Province. The 103 000 ha Namaqua National Park has some of the most diverse fauna in the world, with 40% found nowhere else. After the first good rains in July, the desert awakens with a burst of flowers and usually lasts until September. Some of the most noticeable trees are the huge quiver trees, named after the San use of the tree to make arrows and quivers.

Enigmatic Wildlife Small Group Tour - South Africa
Itinerary Highlights
- Namaqualand's incredible Floral Spectacle
- Aardvark, Aardwolf, Springhare and other wonderful nocturnal mammals
- Smorgasbord of 'herps' (Reptiles and Frogs)
- Dramatic landscapes of some seldom-explored wilderness places
Bushmans Kloof
Bushmans Kloof offers the extraordinary luxury of an intimate Relais & Chateaux lodge in a stunning 18,000-acre wilderness embracing rare wildlife and a unique, natural art gallery with over 130 ancient San rock art sites. Just three hours north of Cape Town, Bushman’s Kloof is a South African Natural Heritage Site in a remote and ancient landscape of scented fynbos in the Cederberg. Accommodation...
Strandloper Ocean Boutique Hotel
Strandloper Ocean Boutique Hotel is an owner managed boutique hotel in the quaint fishing village of Paternoster on the West Coast. It is located in close proximity to West Coast nature reserve and heritage site and with direct access to an 8km stretch of beach, the hotel offers both fauna, flora and the fresh waters of the Atlantic ocean, all rounded off in a picturesque, down-to-earth village. ...
Tswalu Kalahari
Tswalu Kalahari is a conservation success story. One of South Africa's largest private game reserves, Tswalu was lovingly restored by its original owner, the late Stephen Boler, and now maintained by the Oppenheimer family. What was once many disparate and over-grazed farms is now 100,000 hectares of natural semi-arid Kalahari grasslands, appreciated for its diversity of habitats and 80 specie...
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