Discovering the Northern Cape

Despite being South Africa’s largest province, the Northern Cape is its most sparsely pop­u­lated and look­ing at the almost lunar land­scape, char­ac­ter­ised by dry, rocky crags and sand it’s clear that the cli­mate plays a large part in this. This is a harsh, unfor­giv­ing land­scape not given to agri­cul­ture which makes it unique in South Africa. But amongst the arid stark­ness of the Karoo and Kalahari, which make up the major­ity of the province, there are start­ling flashes of life unique to the area.

The Orange River flows along the bor­der between this province and Namibia on its path to the sea and in this region, the dry, dusty appear­ance of much of the sur­round­ing land­scape is trans­formed into an oasis of green veget­a­tion and cool water. Straddling the Orange river and com­bin­ing land from both the Northern Cape and Namibia is the Ais Ais Transfrontier Park, a haven for the area's suc­cu­lent plants as well as local wild­life, who coex­ist peace­fully with local shepherds.

Another park worth a visit is the Richtersveld, a rocky land­scape, dot­ted with the curios “half-mens” plants, which are the stuff of local legend. It’s also a great spot for bird watch­ing, and has some good 4x4 trails and hikes on offer.

Augrabies National Park, another reserve in the area, presents a very dif­fer­ent appeal. This is where you will find the Augrabies Falls, which thun­ders over the pre­cip­ice of a gran­ite gorge, offer­ing spec­tac­u­lar scenery as well as rich bird life and small game.

The San people, des­cend­ants of South Africa’s first ancient inhab­it­ants, call this area their home.

A unique fea­ture of the Northern Cape is its resti­tu­tion of land to the local peoples for oppres­sion by pre­vi­ous gov­ern­ments. They have been empowered in terms of tour­ism and many of the lodges and gues­t­houses, and even game reserves, are run as pub­lic private part­ner­ships, between these peoples and the local government.

Such is the case with the Riemvasmaak com­munity who oper­ate 4x4 trails, accom­mod­a­tion and the warm baths which are fed by a nat­ural under­ground spring.

On the coast, unlike most of South Africa’s coast­line, there is very little in the way of pop­u­la­tion, with many small fish­ing vil­lages dot­ted along the coast of the cold Atlantic, barely altered since they were foun­ded. Likewise, the small town of Sutherland, renowned as one of the cold­est places in South Africa, and hav­ing gained acclaim as the home of the giant SALT telescope.

One can­not speak about the Northern Province without men­tion­ing Kimberly, its cap­ital. A small city, it was the site of the dia­mond rush in South Africa in the 19^th cen­tury, and still retains many rem­nants of that era, the most fam­ous of which is the “Big Hole” an open cast mine dug largely by hand by those first pion­eer­ing prospectors.

If you are lucky enough to visit the area in the spring­time, you will be rewar­ded by the site of the desert sud­denly burst­ing into a riot of col­our. It is at this time of year that the fam­ous Namaqua dais­ies burst out of their drab winter col­ors, and trans­form the desert floor into a liv­ing car­pet of colour.

Without a doubt, the Northern Cape is, much like the industry that brought many to the area, a dia­mond in the rough, full of sur­prises and cul­ture, and well worth a visit for a taste of some­thing a little out of the ordinary.

Useful Links:
For fur­ther inform­a­tion and travel resources, please visit:

• Northern Cape Tourist Attractions
• Things To Do in Northern Cape
• Northern Cape Accommodation
• Northern Cape Hotels