The Northern Cape consists of wide-open spaces, big African skies and a
number of unique national parks. Home to the ancient San people; the
Northern Cape offers the tourist a very different experience of the South
African landscape. Once the hub of the gold rush days, this province
boasts a colourful history as well as a number of cultural tourist
attractions. This part of the world is also well known for its incredible
annual floral display that takes place in Namaqualand once a year.
Major Attractions:
• Richtersveld National Park
Created in 1991, the Richtersveld National Park is situated in
northwestern Namaqualand. Here, the landscape is rough and unforgiving.
Some of the more rugged landscapes have been given names such as Skeleton
Gorge, Devil’s Tooth and Helskloof (hell’s gorge). This area is home
to the fascinating Nama people – who are mainly sheep or goat-herders
and live a simple life in these harsh surroundings. The Richtersveld is
popular with 4x4 enthusiasts and nature lovers.
• Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park
The Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, together with the Gemsbok National
Park in Botswana, is Africa's first transfrontier game park, known as the
Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. It is one of the largest nature conservation
areas in southern Africa, and one of the largest remaining protected
natural ecosystems in the world.
The Park provides unfenced access to a variety of game between South
Africa and Botswana, and has a surface area of more than two million
hectare (ha).
• Augrabies Falls National Park
One of the lesser-known game parks in the country, it is here, on
the Orange River, that Africa’s second largest waterfall (next to the
Victoria Falls) thunders down into a granite gorge in a spectacular
display. Adventure activities are par for the course at this attraction,
including rafting, hiking and cycling as well as canoe trails.
• Flowers, Flowers Everywhere
During August and September, the area of Namaqualand is transformed into a
brilliant carpet of wild flowers. The area is world-famous for its
transformed landscape and floral beauty – and photographic safaris to
the area are very popular with both local and international tourists.
Nowadays, it can be said that the Namaqualand experiences something of a
`gold rush’ during peak season.
• The Big Hole at Kimberley
The famous five-hundred-metre wide cavity that sits at a depth of around
240m was dug manually by pick and shovel, and is known to be the largest
man-made excavation sight in the world. This hole remains the major
attraction for visitors to this part of the world.
• Diamond Digging Country
Kimberley boasts an excellent museum called the Kimberley Mine
Museum. Part of the museum includes the viewing decks into the Big Hole,
as well as a number of historic buildings. The old shops, bars,
restaurants, churches and banks appear almost exactly as they were during
the diamond digging days. Known as a `living museum’, a visit here is
like stepping back in time to the days when Barney Barnato and Cecil John
Rhodes were kings; and diamonds were there for the picking.
