Taylored Trips – Richtersveld

Although we are way past the winter solstice, August is still very much smack bang in the middle of winter down

here in the Western Cape and not really camping weather but we set off on a trip to the Richtersveld none the less. Friends of ours were doing the West Coast Eco Trip before heading off into Southern Namibia and we had agreed to meet them in Mc Dougall’s Bay and spend a couple of days with them in the

Richtersveld.We left on Saturday 5th

August and headed north on the R45 with the young green wheat fields looking very fresh in the morning light. We past the usual gaggle of baboons near the turn-off to Gouda where we turned left.

Soon we were climbing the southern slopes of the Piekernierskloof Pass and then we were in citrus territory. The orchard

s were empty but all the farmstalls were full of naartjies and oranges. The nightmare N7 national road through this region is a thing of the past as we quickly and smoothly made our way past Citrusdal and Clanwilliam on a brand new state of the art road.

Piekernierskloof Pass Brand new N7

The Clanwilliam dam wasn’t looking very full but it must have been full enough to get the water

canal flowing again. Last time we came past here it was bone dry.

Clanwilliam Dam Olifants River Irrigation Scheme

Just before Klawer work on the new bridge over the Olifants River is in full

swing with this being the only stop-go roadworks area on the entire N7.

New Olifants River bridge under construction

Some distance out of Vanrhynsdorp on the left-hand side of the road stands a neat eye-catching building with

ethnic lines. This is the entrance to Ratelgat, a provincial heritage site which was given special recognition because of the role that Andrew Abraham Stockenstrom le Fleur 1, a Griqua prophet known as Die Kneg, had played to bring the Griqua community together. Die Kneg is buried on this farm. The

Griquas have an annual gathering here and there are chalets, a cultural village, an amphitheatre and a historic cemetery on the farm.

Ratelgat

The tiny towns of Nuwerus and the slightly

bigger Bitterfontein follow. Probably the most significant thing about Bitterfontein is that the railway line from Cape Town stops here. A lot of granite mining is done in the hills around this area and you can always see big granite blocks at the station waiting to be loaded on the goods trains as you go past on the

N7. Another point of significance is that a man with a vision built himself an empire by starting a transport company couriering goods from the station at Bitterfontein to the town of Springbok. He started with just a bakkie but soon became a very wealthy man. His name was Joseph

Jowell and his company was Jowell’s Transport, one of the biggest in the industry. CrossRoads has since bought them out after the old man passed away some time ago.We pulled into the town of Garies because there was something I had to go see again. Letterklip! Letterklip is a cluster of

enormous, megalithic boulders half way up a hill just above the town of Garies where the names of early Namaqualand travellers are engraved in the rocks. Apparently they used it as a post office. Like Ratelgat it is also a provincial heritage site and it was used by British forces during the Anglo-

Boer War. They packed dry stone walls between the huge rocks to made it a fortified stronghold and you can see an example of this on the lower left picture of the six photos below. Various regimental badges and officer’s names are also engraved in the rock.It is very easy to get there and well

worth a visit. As you come into town at the T-junction where the petrol station is, turn right and carry on until the end of the road. You will see a Letterklip sign pointing towards the left. You have to drive through a yard, then through a gate and follow a sand track leading up the hill until you get to a clump of rocks

halfway up the hill. The hill is cluttered with lots of clumps of rock but you won’t miss Letterklip. It is fenced in with a gate which is usually standing open.

Letterklip

On our way down the hill, we looked across the valley to the other side of the N7 and saw what must be

a near perfect place to stay. Tucked away amongst the rocks, isolated yet just out of town, it looks like this chap has everything a man could want.

My kind of place

We took a drive through town and the hi-light of the day was a rugby game at the local sports field opposite the petrol station. Everyone was there and the guys were playing dat die stof so staan.

Rugby match in Garies on a Saturday afternoon.

Kamieskroon is the next town travelling north on the N7. Well that’s not entirely true because Karkams is the next town but nobody even notices it, so we’ll stick with

Kamieskroon.Kamieskroon actually owes its existence to the fact that Bowesdorp, 7kms to the north and situated in a narrow valley between high mountains didn’t have adequate space to grow a town in and probably just as important, it didn’t have much water either. So the Dutch Reformed Church bought

the land to relocate from Bowesdorp and Kamieskroon was born. There is a special mention and some amazing pictures of Bowesdorp much later in the story but let’s get back to Kamieskroon first.The crown of Kamieskroon is perched on top of a mountain just outside the dorp. The

beautiful church, like so many other country town churches, is way too big for the town. It just shows how much of a role religion played in the building of our nation. They wouldn’t have built them so big if the congregation didn’t fill them. The Namaqua National Park lies 20kms to the west of the town.

The Park is well known for its abundance of wild flowers during spring.

The “Crown” of Kamieskroon The Church of Kamieskroon

Next town up the road is Springbok, well it’s actually Mesklip but we’re not going to get into

that conversation again. As we were approaching Springbok I started getting a little anxious because Verine had mentioned a few times that she wanted to stay in a hotel that night. I used to work this area many years ago so I know what’s available in this town and although there are three hotels here,

that doesn’t account to much. Actually, it’s quite classic because back in about 1990 the talk around town was that two of the hotels in town were owned by the same person and he also owned another one or two hotels in neighbouring towns and that made him the second biggest hotelier in South Africa next to Sol

Kerzner. Picture my surprise when we pull into town and there’s a brand-new hotel on the hill, not even a year old. Their tariff was also quite a surprise, “want dis blommietjie tyd meneer!” We were still a whole month away from the flower season and there wasn’t a daisy to be seen anywhere but we

booked in anyway and had a lovely stay at the new Springbok Inn.

Springbok Inn

The next morning we had a super breakfast and I didn’t have to eat again for the rest of the day.

The new Springbok Inn is actually right next door to the caravan park on the south side of town and they have incorporated the park into the hotel grounds. The whole setup is fully walled in and there is even a paved pathway from the camp site to the hotel. We stayed at the caravan park a few years

ago and found it very comfortable.

Path from camp site to hotel

The Jewish Synagogue in Springbok was donated to the town by none other than Joseph Jowell and his wife Rebecca, remember I

mentioned him earlier in the story, to become the local museum and it stands proudly besides the first Dutch Reformed Church of Springbok.

The Jewish Synagogue which is now the local museum besides the first Dutch Reformed Church

The current Dutch Reformed Church, Die Klipkerk, stands proudly on the hill in town.

Die Klipkerk

Monument Koppie Old smelting furnace

This little cluster of rocks right in the centre of town is known as Monument Koppie. It was a British

fort during the Anglo-Boer War and was dynamited by a commando unit led by General Jan Smuts. The rocky remnants of the fort can still be seen on the Koppie. On your way out of town to the north, an old copper smelting furnace can be seen.We drove out to the neighbouring town of Nababeep to

have a look at the mining museum. To my surprise it was open on a Sunday.

Copper Mining Museum

Nababeep Museum Clara

Clara, the locomotive, was used between Okiep and Port Nolloth from 1890 to 1941 and subsequently for shuntin

g until 1952 when the railroad was abandoned. Clara was the first of 7 similar locomotives and was the last one to be scrapped.Up on the hill above the museum is the original Glory Hole.

Glory Hole Nababeep

Okiep, a very neat little town, back on the other side of the N7 also has its fair share of mining memorabilia.

Cornish beam pump

Smoke stack

And two lovely churches.

Okiep churches

A few kilometres north of Okiep on the N7, stands a building on a ridge which resembles the canopy of an ox wagon, it was an explosive store for one of the local mines. Just beyond that, also on the left, is the remnants of the railway’s water tank right next to the road. On the R382 road from Steinkopf down to Port

Nolloth is another water station. This one still has the rusted remains of the tank in place. Take note of the condition of these beautiful quiver trees because there is mention of them later in the story.

Old railway service stations on N7 and R382

The very wide-spread plains on either side of the R382 down to Port Nolloth is broken by a

lovely pass called Anenous Pass. According to research Anenous is derived from the Khoi and it means “the side of the mountain”.

Anenous Pass Wide open plains below the pass

We pulled into Mc Dougall’s Bay just as Edgar and Jenny phoned. They had also just arrived. After shoppin

g around a bit we found a very pleasant self-catering spot with a braai on the stoep. Perfect. It was very cold and very windy so this was just what we needed.

Mc Dougall's Bay

The next morning, after a quick top-up of supplies and fuel in Port Nolloth, we were on our way to the Richtersveld! The road from Port Nolloth

to Alexander Bay has been tarred since I last travelled on this stretch of road.

To Alexander Bay

Just past Alexander Bay, at the turn-off to Namibia, the road becomes gravel and that’s when

you know you have arrived! Richtersveld – South Africa’s only mountain desert.

The road runs parallel with the Orange River which you catch glimpses of as you head east. The scenery starts changing and gasps

of, “look at that” and “look there” was all I could say as Verine was clicking away on the camera trying to capture the stark beauty of this place.

Into the Richtersveld

When we got to the SANParks Helskloof gate and told them we wanted to go to De Hoop camp

site, we were categorically told that we had to go all the way up to Sendelingsdrift in the extreme north and book in there. I find it quite strange that one first has to travel all the way to the north so that you can come back to the southern or eastern parts of the park. Anyway I suppose the economies of scale is the

dictating factor in this case. So off we went to Sendelingsdrift to book in.

Sendelingsdrift

After the formaliti

es we headed south-east to De Hoop camp site on the banks of the Orange River. The views and the terrain is spectacular to say the least. What is concerning is that most of the quiver trees seem to be dying.

There was an area we went through that was actually quite wet with water flowing down the river bed, which is the road. There was even some green grassy vegetation.

Then suddenly we came out of a dry river bed and we were there, on the banks of the Orange River with a selection of camp sites to choose from.

De Hoop camp site with goats and all

Edgar and Jenny spotted a good site amongst some thorn trees and we all pulled in and made it our home.

Our spot is

circled in red as seen from up on the hill behind our camp site. The dry river bed can be seen on the left in the middle of the picture. I think we had the best spot in the entire Richtersveld.We were so extremely lucky with the timing of this trip because we had glorious summer weather while we were there, I even

had a swim in the Orange River and we had a beautiful full moon to greet us every evening and it bathed us in glorious moon light all through the night.

Orange River

All too soon it was time to pack up and head on out of there. The trip back to Sendelingsdrift was just as good as it was going the other way.

In the picture

on the right, you can see what I mean about the quiver trees dying. That tree doesn’t look very healthy.

This is what a healthy quiver tree (koker

boom) looks like. These trees are at Letterklip outside Garies. In the pictures earlier in the story of the old railway water tanks on the R382 road, two very big examples can be seen as well. BTW, quiver trees are called that because the Bushmen stored their arrows in dried out branches.

We had decided to go into Namibia for one night and then come back down to Noordoewer/Vioolsdrift and get back into South Africa over that border post, so when we got to Sendelingsdrift we did the necessary customs and boarded the pont bound for Namibia.

SA side Namibian side

After clearing customs on the Namibian side and some amazing landscapes, or should I say moonscapes, we had

a bone-jarring trip up to the old mining town of Rosh Pinah.

Here we managed to find an oasis in the middle of the desert, so to speak, La Rentia’s. In what must have been an old club for the miners and

their families, Rentia and her friendly, helpful staff have built a social hub for accommodation, entertainment, dining, conferences and camping. We pulled in, set up camp and had a lovely braai.

La Rentia's, Rosh Pinah

The next morning we said good-bye to our friends, who were heading off to Lüderitz and instead of us

heading off to the east for Noordoewer, we headed west for Oranjemund on Rentia’s advise. She said that although very beautiful, the road was in a terrible state as it had not been maintained in a long time. We decided to take her advice and head west. It was a great opportunity to see that route as it was unlikely

that we would travel that way again. As it turned out, it was a brand-new road that had only just been completed and we had a very luxurious and scenic drive down to Oranjemund.

Unfortunately for this poor adventuristic chap on his bicycle, he didn’t know it at this stage but when we went around the next corner the wind was blowing

the sand across the road so things were going to get rather unpleasant for him.

Thanks Rentia, I’m glad we took your advice and headed west because we saw

some amazing beauty along this stretch of road.All too soon we got to the border post and we were back in South Africa in a flash.

Friendly border post greeting Bridge over the Orange River

We pulled into Alexander Bay because there was a

sign saying Orange River Mouth, so we thought that that would be something nice to see but after a few wrong turns and some dead-ends and some really ugly, desolate and abandoned factories and yards we decided to give that a miss and we headed south for our second visit to

Port Nolloth.We were able to spend a little more time here this time but I still think this town has a lot of hidden treasures and I hope we can come back here again sometime and explore some more.

From one place of worship to another

From one long forgotten dream to another bright new future

From one classic diner to the next

From fishermen's cottages with a sea view to being viewed (look on the stoep)

Port Nolloth's friendly neighbourhood watch

Without even being able to indulge ourselves in whatever Port Nolloth has to offer, we had to be on our way again because time was few and distance was many. It was already 1.00pm and we

wanted to get to Springbok early enough to relax over an afternoon braai. As it was, we only got there about 4.30pm with all our stops along the way.One thing that I found strange in Port Nolloth was the two big tugs that are moored at the quay. These aren’t Mickey Mouse tugs, these are serious pieces of

machinery. Another thing that got me wondering was that when we were here on our way north, there were two tugs. When we came back though, there was only one!Firstly, as I said, these are BIG tugs but there are no big vessels around here that need two tugs of this size.

They don’t even have a harbour. Secondly, where had the other one gone when we came back for our second visit? It’s not like there’s another port or harbour around the corner where they can quickly pop over to. Port Nolloth is a long way from any other port.Ok, while I’m

typing this I’m thinking, “What about oil rigs?” Then why did only one tug disappear? Surely if an oil rig needed to be moved, they would need both? Sorry, I’m just thinking out loud.

First visit Second visit

We booked in at another camp site in Springbok for the night, this one just off the N7 at the Pofadder turn-off. We had stayed here once before as well when we came back

from our Orange River canoeing expedition back in January 2005. I just love the old Gypsy trailer they have there. What it’s for I don’t know. Somebody’s timeshare maybe?

Springbok Caravan Park

Classic old Gypsy trailer

As mention

ed earlier in the story, I promised a special mention of the ex-town called Bowesdorp where there was not enough space for a town to grow in and Kamieskroon was born. Well here’s the special mention. I like this little valley so much that one day when I’m big, maybe I could come and retire here.

This place ticks all the boxes for me and the house below is unoccupied so I think I’ve found my spot. Oh, and there’s another example of a healthy quiver tree in the yard.

Turn-off to Bowesdorp My spot

It’s got some classic cars around and what’s surprising is that so many of them are still standing on

inflated tyres.

And to top it all, it’s got an amazing church that they gave up when they moved to Kamieskroon.

Back in the day when I worked this area, late ‘80’s or early ‘90’s, I walked through the church and took photos

all around it (35mm spool photos which I cannot find anymore), but now it is fenced off and you cannot get near it anymore. Maybe one day when I’m a resident they’ll allow me in.I’m looking for potential tenants or neighbours. Who’d like to join me?The road from Bowesdorp to

Piketberg must have been pretty uninteresting because there are very few photos of that section of the trip except for the Kombi posting a 7.6 l/100km fuel consumption which is a figure that would make most Polo drivers proud.

On the long wheat-field plains of the Swartland approaching Piketberg the heavens opened and we had some very welcome rain but it didn’t last very long though. By the time we

got to Piketberg it was all over.

Rain Piketberg

That concludes a very memorable and interesting trip. We had a super time

and saw so many amazing places that it makes us want to do it all over again.Thanks to Edgar and Jenny for sharing with us.Until next time, “Keep on Tripping!”