North of the South African Riviera of Cape Town, hot, volcanic deserts march down to a cold Atlantic ocean. The barren hills and lava plains erupt with wildflowers for a few frivolous weeks in spring and the muddy largesse of the Orange River provides water year round.
Namaqualand is the outback, a wilderness strewn with mines and mission stations, diamonds, lobster, flowers and dust. Namaqualand is named after the Khoikhoi Namaqua people, who settled in the area south of the Gariep (Orange) River with their flocks of fat-tailed sheep some 2 000 years ago.
Namaqualand covers 55 000 km2 of quartz-strewn plains, undulating hills, granite outcrops and rugged mountains. Bound in the north by the Gariep River, this vast region stretches southwards to the Olifants River and extends from the cold Atlantic Ocean in the west to Bushmanland in the east.
Namaqualand is home to over 3 500 plant species, among them the distinctive quiver tree, the famous Namaqualand daisy (Dimorphotheca sinuata), bokbaai vygie (Dorotheanthus bellidiformis), gousblom (Arctotis hirsuta) and the beetle daisy (Gorteria diffusa). For a brief few weeks each year, the arid plains are transformed into one of nature's greatest spectacles, the annual wildflower display.
Despite the best efforts of the early explorers, the fabled gold city of Vigiti Magna and/or Monomotapa, and the great river on which it sup...
In the early part of the 20th century, several prospectors picked their way along the north-west South African coastline, looking for anythi...
The Kokerboom Food and Wine Route embraces the towns and settlements of Keimoes, Kanoneiland, Kenhardt, Augrabies, Upington and Marchand. Th...
The indigenous people of Namaqualand always came second with regards to land rights. This subjugation began with the farmers and was continu...
The marginal semi-desert areas of Namaqualand are all potentially rich grasslands, but they cannot recover from overuse during regular dry p...
Yup, for loneliness you just can't beat Namaqualand and Bushmanland. We tried to find the most isolated road in South Africa, and we think w...
A very popular stop on the flower-spotting route, the Namaqua National Park is a very special place indeed. The main entrance is located abo...