The Richtersveld

Richtersveld Landscape

The Richtersveld National Park is argu­ably one of the most unfor­giv­ing land­scapes in South Africa. A desert, where rain­fall is unheard of for most of the year, and com­munit­ies are sparsely spread around the vast, some­times lunar landscapes.

With the park being run by the res­id­ents of the area them­selves, how­ever, expert exper­i­ence and advice is on hand, ensur­ing that any trip to the area will be a mem­or­able one. The Richtersveld is loc­ated in Northern Namaqualand, in the Northern Cape, and stretches all the way up to the Orange River, South Africa’s bor­der with Namibia.

Despite the isol­a­tion, there is much to see in this rugged, dra­matic area which enjoys UNESCO world her­it­age site status, for those who are will­ing to take the time to explore. Populated by the San people since pre­his­toric times, the area is still dot­ted with their art­works, some almost per­fectly pre­served des­pite the passing of the cen­tur­ies. These engrav­ings, known as pet­ro­glyphs, were chipped by the artists into the hard dolo­mite rocks by hand, using rudi­ment­ary tools, and provide some insight into the cul­tural his­tory of the area.

Another cul­tural exper­i­ence is per­form­ing the Namastap, a tra­di­tional Nama dance, led by des­cend­ants of the ori­ginal inhab­it­ants. This can be arranged through the Eksteenfontein Information centre. Other attrac­tions and activ­it­ies organ­ized by the centre are hikes and pipe car trips to view graves­ites and tra­di­tional stock posts, don­key cart rides to and around the Rooiberg (Red Mountain) as well as hik­ing trails, such as the Ventersval Trail, Lelieshoek Oemsberg Trail and Koedaspiek Trail, which range from 4 days for the former, to 2 days for the latter.

Spring Flowers

Despite the oth­er­worldly, des­ol­ate appear­ance of the land­scape at first glance, another draw card for the area is the rather unique plant and animal life to be found here.  the most fam­ous of these must be the Halfmensboom, which trans­lates as “half-person tree”. Local people named the tree  because of its resemb­lance to the human form and  revere the trees as the embod­i­ment of their ancest­ors. Other plant life includes around 650 spe­cies, includ­ing the world’s most pro­lific col­lec­tion of suc­cu­lent spe­cies and the Richtersveld is known as one of the most fas­cin­at­ing mega eco­sys­tems in the world.

Since roads are notori­ously poor in the Park, access to most areas is by off-road vehicle only, but many organ­ized 4 x 4 trips are avail­able. Visiting dur­ing flower sea­son will provide tour­ists to the area the oppor­tun­ity to view the spec­tac­u­lar, if brief trans­form­a­tion of the park from a dry desert, into a liv­ing car­pet of flowers and col­our (see Namaqualand Flower Route).

As can be expec­ted, accom­mod­a­tion in the area is mostly rudi­ment­ary; how­ever, this offers even more oppor­tun­ity to get closer to nature. Camping facil­it­ies and self cater­ing accom­mod­a­tion are on offer, and can be arranged through local tour­ism offices.

While this area may lack the hustle and bustle of other tour­ist attrac­tions, it surely has much to offer vis­it­ors in terms of unique fauna and flora, cul­tural exper­i­ences, and sheer nat­ural beauty, and should not be over­looked when plan­ning a trip in South Africa.

View a Flickr slide show of pho­to­graphs of the Richtersveld: http://www.flickr.com/search/show/?q=richtersveld

Useful Links:
For addi­tional des­tin­a­tion inform­a­tion see:
SANParks — Richterveld Transfrontier National Park
Northern Cape Accommodation
Richtersveld Cultural & Botanical Landscape