South Africa | Northern Cape

South Africa's Northern Cape is the country's largest province, stretching from the desolate mountain desert in the west to the diamond fields in the east. It is a vast land of stark contrasts - the rolling plains, roaring rivers, flowering desert and rugged trails will capture the soul of any adventurer.

This is big sky country. Nowhere else on the sub continent will you experience such space, such silence or know that few before you have travelled these dusty roads and canyons. The endless horizons hold a timelessness and ancient history that lures explorers back to experience it again and again.

The mighty Orange River brings life to this semi-desert as it snakes its way through fertile, cultivated valleys and canyons of red sand and granite. It plunges over the 60m Augrabies Falls before flowing through the plains of Namibian border territory, a favourite location for white-water rafters in the summer months.

The Northern Cape hosts five of South Africa's twenty one National Parks. These parks represent a wealth of the country's fauna, flora, landscapes and cultural heritage.

Vaalbos National Park, once a center of alluvial diamond digging is now teeming with game including tsesebe, red hartebeest, giraffe, buffalo and rhino. Stretching along the Vaal River, the reserve's Kalahari thornveld and grassland provide habitat to a variety of large raptors and colourful species like the striking crimson-breasted shrike.

Further to the west, a harsh but beautiful riverine ecosystem covers much of the Augrabies Falls National Park. Here, the plateau gives way to spectacular granite cliffs which follow the 18km long gorge, offering exciting opportunities for hiking, canoeing or simply gazing in awe at the thunderous waterfall or 'place of great noise'.

In the far north, the Kgalgadi Transfrontier Park offers visitors 3.7 million hectares of unspoilt ecosystem which traverses the border into neighbouring Botswana. Shifting dunes of red sand and semi-desert savannah hold the secrets of an ancient Khoi civilisation, and are now home to the black-maned Kalahari Lion, leopard, giraffe, wildebeest, gemsbok and hundreds of plant and bird species. Despite extreme temperatures, travellers are drawn to this remote region throughout the year to experience its stark beauty and shimmering silence.

Bordering Namibia and the Atlantic coast, the lava mountains of the Ai Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park form surreal moonscapes across this desolate, forbidding wilderness. Seemingly lacking in life, these sandy plains and jagged cliffs hide a wealth of succulent plant species that survive on only a few millimeters of rain per year. Those prepared to brave the harshness of this unspoilt conservation area can travel the Richtersveld in a 4x4 or paddle the Orange between a number of newly established camps.

Every spring the Karoo plains come to life with a tapestry of colourful wild flowers. Picturesque outcrops and river courses are filled with Namaqualand daisies and carpets of blooms in abundant hues. Photographers travel from Europe and America to capture this natural wonder each year in the Namaqua National Park. This area offers flower lovers the richest variety of bulb flora of any arid region in the world, boasting 1000 unique species.

More Info - www.northerncape.org.za