Chapter 7: It’s not the destination, it’s the journey

It’s been a grueling two weeks on the road as we head into the final stretch of our expedition. We crossed over the border from Namibia back into South Africa over the weekend and spent most of our time in the mountainous desert known as the Richtersveld. The Northern Cape is one of the most unexplored regions of SA and we’re thankful that we’ve had the privilege of visiting this beautiful and vast region of our country.

On Sunday afternoon we left Richtersveld and followed the Namaqua Eco Trail to Steinkopf. This is a 4×4 route that extends along the Orange River. At an impressive 600 km, it is SA’s longest and most remote 4×4 trail. The Special Edition Karoo Bakkies performed well, as expected, and we got through the trail with no problems.

We stopped to refuel in Springbok, the largest town in the Namaqualand area in the Northern Cape. Its rich history and connection to the Second Boer War make this town a hub of cultural heritage. Because of its prime location on the N7 national route and N14, which connects it with Upington and Pretoria, Springbok is considered the gateway to the Namaqualand. We continued onward towards the Namaqua National Park to view the flowers along the Skilpad Route; a very popular walking trail, especially during Spring. The flowers vary from day to day. Some days they appear much brighter when the sun is strong but when the weather is overcast, like it was the day we were there, the flowers appear dull.

What stands out about the trail are the majestic hills of the Namaqua National Park and the general landscape, which make for a very beautiful and scenic drive. The region is semi-desert so we saw lots of scorpions in the area, the park attracts lots of fauna, in fact, the speckled padloper, which is the smallest tortoise in the world, can be found here. We also saw ancient rock engravings from the San people—this area is rich in ancient rock art from the indigenous people who once inhabited the land.

We drove about 22km northwest to the small town of Kamieskroon, where we decided to settle for the night. The town is more or less in the centre of the Namaqualand region and lies at the foothills of the Kamiesberg Mountain Range, among the granite rock formations. The town is very busy at this time of year because of the impending Spring and flower season. We didn’t get to explore much of this town because we arrived late and had to leave quite early in the morning. We did, however, manage to visit the Kammieshoogte Pass, which gives you a stunning view of the mountain range.

Next, we will make our way further south along the banks of the Orange River to take on another challenging 4×4 route; the Kheis 4×4 route.

Join us in part eight of our ongoing blog series as we explore all that Southern Africa has to offer as we Unleash The Explorer in You!