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Northen Cape Province - Springbok |
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In the northern Namaqualand region of Northern Cape province. A friendly town, the principal one of the Namaqualand region that runs up the dry, sandy western coastal belt, and a favoured destination for those who want to see the springtime wild flowers in their glorious bloom. The place began life when viable copper deposits were found in the area in the 1850s, though their existence had long been known - Cape colonial governor Simon van der Stel actually led an expedition to the 'copper mountains' of Namaqualand as far back as 1695, and signs of the ancient workings can still be seen near town. Today fairly large-scale mining operations are conducted around nearby Carolus, Okiep and Nababeep. Springbok also draws business from the great diamond fields of the western seaboard. The town itself, which sits on the main highway linking Cape Town with the Namibian capital Windhoek, is a pleasant centre, rather isolated from the urban mainstream and its residents, perhaps as a consequence, are renowned for their sociability and hospitality. Goegap Nature Reserve Just to the east of town and a quite splendid venue for viewing the dazzling array of desert ephemerals, the flowering succulents and mesembryantmeums (known as 'vygies' in South Africa) in late winter and spring. Labelled samples of the local flora - technically classified as Namaqualand Broken Veld - are displayed in the office building. The reserve, though, has more to offer: the landscapes are ruggedly attractive, flattish in some parts but broken by enormous granite outcrops; wildlife includes Hartmann's mountain zebra, the desert-adapted gemsbok, springbok, klipspringer and other antelope. Richtersveld National Park This wild, hauntingly beautiful sanctuary lies within a great bend of the Orange River to the north of Springbok, and beckons the more adventurous traveller. The countryside is dry, largely bare, lonely, bleak, but hauntingly beautiful in its broad spaces and far horizons. Jaggedly wind-sculpted formations create a 'mountain desert' in its northern parts. The Richtersveld is something of a mecca for botanists: the most prominent plants are perhaps the weird halfmens ('half-man') trees that stand like solitary sentinels on the great plains, but it's the smaller floral forms that draw the interest - the park is home to more than a third of the world's mesembryanthemum species. The area offers back-packing hikes, horseback and 4x4 trails, but visitors are advised not to explore the wilderness without a guide. The Diamond Fields To the west of Springbok are the two little seaside towns of Port Nolloth and Alexander Bay, the former originally established to serve the copper mines, later turning its harbour over to the trawlermen of a thriving fishing industry. By contrast, Alexander Bay to the north is very much a mining centre - the coastal strip between the two ranks among the richest alluvial (sea, beach and sandy terrace) diamond fields in the world, first worked in the 1920s after Jack Carstens, a young Port Nolloth man, spotted a large stone glittering in the sunlit sands some way inland. Diggers flocked to the area; most came away with little enough, some struck it rich; one man, the geologist Hans Merensky, picked up nearly 500 gems from beneath a single rock. Later, in a bid to bring order to the fields, the government took over, declared the area state diggings and closing it off to the general public. Alexander Bay is still a high-security town but visitors are welcome (by prior arrangement) and most are highly impressed by the diamond-mining process - the huge earth-movers that slice away great chunks of ground with surgical precision, the deep trenches that are left behind, the sifting and sweeping, the sorting. A fairly good road leads from Springbok to Port Nolloth; a rather more rugged route takes you up to Alexander Bay. Namakwa Route This guided auto trail (there are in fact three somewhat different routes) follows the course of the Orange River for some 640 majestic kilometres - a memorable experience. Port Nolloth and Alexander Bay are on the Atlantic seaboard to the west and north-west respectively; Vanrynsdorp lies on the N7 highway far to the south; Upington on the N14 far to the east. |
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SPRINGBOK Western Cape
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