Vanrhynsdorp is a small farming town in the Matzikama Region of the Western Cape, situated on the Troe-Troe River near the Maskam Mountain, a part of the Matzikamma and Gifberg Mountains.
These mountains were home to the San and Khoi peoples long ago but became known to European settlers after expeditions made by the Dane Pieter van Meerhoff in 1661. Vanrhynsdorp is about 300 km north of Cape Town, situated where the N7 and R27 highways connect, and a popular stop-over for travellers to Upington or Namibia. It is located in the southern part of Namaqualand and borders the arid Knersvlakte - ’Gnashing Plains’.
Three botanical kingdoms converge here; the Nama-Karoo vegetation, succulents in the Knersvlakte and Cape fynbos in the mountains. This area explodes with colour during spring with a technicolour display of wildflowers. The 85 500 ha Knersvlakte Nature Reserve near Vanrhynsdorp was proclaimed in 2014. The reserve has around 1 500 plant species and 190 endemic species, of which 155 are threatened with extinction.
The Knersvlakte, known for its white quartzite gravel, is considered one of the most diverse succulent regions in the world and forms the habitat of a third of the world’s dwarf succulents. According to the 2011 census, the town has 6 272 inhabitants of which 95% is Afrikaans-speaking.
Vanrhynsdorp’s mountains were initially home to the San people and many fine examples of the art of these Late Stone Age hunter-gatherers ...
Vanrhynsdorp has some beautiful old buildings such as the Old Goal next to the tourist information office. The dramatic Van Rhyns Pass that ...