Richtersveld National Park – July 2004

“A landscape without soil, its bones naked to the sun; a place where animals cower motionless against the onslaught of day’s heat in whatever shade they can find, where some plants are grossly swollen in order to retain every possible drop of moisture, and others are shriveled and active only when brief rains allow an urgent flowering. Such is the Richtersveld. To anyone accustomed to travel in kinder, well-watered, generously fertile country – and I am one – the prospect may sound less than enticing.

The reality, however, is quite the opposite. The stark curves of the rocks, eroded by the hammering heat of the sun, the unshrouded visibility of the geological structure of the land and, above all, the extraordinary survival techniques evolved by both plants and animals make this wonderful unique stretch of arid country (it is difficult to call it a desert when it is home to such a variety of life) endlessly fascinating.”

Sir David Attenborough
From the foreword of Richtersveld: The Enchanted Wilderness
by Graham Williamson

***

As a teenager I collected South African succulents and with a collection of around 1500 different species I became something of a nut (still am). At that stage I knew most of the scientific names although now days I am lucky if I can place them in the correct genus. A lot of the plants I bought and grew from seed came from the Northern Cape/Richtersveld area and I had always longed to visit the area and see the plants in their natural habitat. The collection died down after I went to the army as I was unable to care for the plants myself, and eventually most of them were donated to other collectors.

Over the last seven years I have visited the Richtersveld area many times with Greg van der Reis’s Offroad Adventure Club/African Expedition Company and finally got to see a large number of the plants I collected as a kid. These trips were always to areas outside of the park to which Greg had a concession and besides the plants, the Orange and geology surrounding it were always a great attraction. We finally decided to visit the National Park over the July School holidays. As some of my usual travel mates were unavailable we decided to travel alone.

While some of my comments regarding the park may be negative, I would have no hesitation in going back and intend to do so in the near future. Part of what spoilt it for me was the fact that I have visited many pristine places in this general area.

The trip plan was as follows:

Sat 10/7 Brandkaros
Sun 11/7 Potjiespram
Mon 12/7 De Hoop
Tue 13/7 De Hoop
Wed 14/7 De Hoop
Thur 15/7 Richtersberg
Fri 16/7 Richtersberg
Sat 17/7 Kokerboomkloof
Sun 18/7 Kokerboomkloof
Mon 19/7 Home

Sat 10/7 Home to Brandkaros

We left home at 05H15. It was an easy drive with very little traffic. We stopped at the Springbok Café for lunch. At Steinkopf, we turned off towards Port Nolloth. Port Nolloth was not very exciting and we didn’t spend much time exploring it. Once you leave Port Nolloth, you are on a fairly good gravel road along the coast up to Alexander Bay. When we arrived in Alexander Bay we filled up and then headed for the security checkpoint in the town, as we wanted to go and see the Orange River mouth. We checked in through security without any problems and drove down to the mouth. Very little water was in the river, partly due to the drought and partly due to Alexcor who apparently remove large amounts of water for their diamond mining operations.
We arrived at the sea and turned right onto the beach. Driving through lots of driftwood and washed up trees reminded me of the river mouth at Foz do Cunene although Foz had a lot more water and a much wider river mouth. We drove about 3.5 km’s along the beach until we reached the actual mouth where the river entered the sea. I hadn’t let my tyres down but decided to see how it went. We were the only people there and had a quick look around and took some photos. We decided to leave as it looked like the tide was coming in. I got back into the Landy and pulled off with a view to making a wide circle and then heading back on the tracks I had come in on. I got stuck in a soft section while turning around and decided to try and reverse out and if this didn’t work to let the tyres down. I put the Landy into reverse and reversed a short distance but soon realized I would have to let my tyres down before continuing. When trying to put the gearbox back into neutral it wouldn’t budge. No matter what I tried, including switching the vehicle off and trying the transfer box lever, neither the transfer box or the gearbox would move out of gear. I remembered reading about a Toyota with a similar problem and Johan Meyer from JB Auto recommending that you “kick” the box out of gear. I briefly considered this but with my luck decided that I would probably end up snapping the gear stick in half. Being by ourselves about 20m away from the sea and about 8 or 9 km’s from the checkpoint with the tide coming in meant that things were quite serious. I jumped out the landy and started to let the tyres down and shouted to Philippa to see if we had cell phone reception. She said that we did and I asked her to contact Rory and see if he had any advice. While she was doing this I remembered that I had Steve’s number from LR Service Centre and decided to give him a call. In the meantime Philippa had got hold of Rory who said he would check his manual and come back to us. I phoned Steve and apologized for bothering him on a Saturday but explained my predicament. He advised that it was either gearbox windup or a problem with the clutch and that I should try and reverse for a short distance and then see if it would come out of gear. With Philippa’s help, we finally got all four tyres down to 1 bar, cleared away some sand behind the rear wheels and jumped back in. I started up with the clutch depressed and slowly released it to see if I had traction. The vehicle started moving and I briefly considered reversing the 3.5 km’s back off the beach. Sanity prevailed and I stopped to see if the box would come out of reverse. It did and we finally breathed a huge sigh of relief when we made it off the beach. I stopped to pump my tyres back up to a decent pressure while the wind howled around us. While waiting for the tyres I noticed a stop sign at the end of the beach just before the waves. It looked like a candidate for the most obvious road sign and we decided to send it off to Getaway when we got back to Cape Town.

We drove back through the checkpoint and stopped at the garage to pump the tyres up to full road pressure. We then left and headed for Brandkaros. The road along the Orange was quite depressing as all around you is evidence of mining activity. While I see the necessity for this activity, maybe some of the profits should be ploughed back into sorting out the environment, which they have managed to destroy.

We arrived at Brandkaros just after 18H00 and signed in at the checkpoint. We headed off to go and find Dolores to pay for our campsite and find out where it was. Brandkaros offers rondavels and campsites and is run by Alexcor. We had a nice grass campsite with braai area. The ablutions are a bit old and decrepit but clean. The only downside to the place is the fact that the “main” road is close by so you hear trucks and cars going up and down on occasion. The campsite cost R30 pppn and our kids stayed free.

Sun 11/7 Brandkaros to Potjiespram

Left Brandkaros after paying and headed towards the gate at Sendelingsdrift. The road is fairly good gravel all the way although you are warned to look out for large mining trucks. We arrived at the security checkpoint and signed in and then headed towards the park offices. A couple of days before leaving I phoned National Parks in Pretoria and advised them that I hadn’t received any paper confirmation of my booking – no problem said the lady, as long as you have your booking number they will be able to pick it up at the gate. WRONG ! After a lengthy discussion, the lady behind the counter accepted that I had paid and allowed us in. The drive to Potjiespram was about 10 km’s on good gravel roads. Once we arrived at the river I headed for the waypoint marked on T4A maps showing the campsite and ablutions. Once we reached the waypoint I could find no facilities and we were still several hundred meters from the river. We followed the track down to the river and then turned left towards a grass bank on the edge of the river next to some large rocks. We set up camp and I changed to go and do a bit of flyfishing. After a couple of casts I was into my first smallmouth yellowfish using a green Copper John. A couple of hours later and many fly changes later and I was still only one fish up. I ended up wading nearly right across the river in thigh deep water which is an indication of how low the levels were. I eventually gave up and headed back to start the braai. The kids in the meantime had been enjoying themselves playing in the sand and watching the herons and fish eagles. We warned them not to dig near the Richtersveld’s main flower, Defecatus Paperus which littered the ground a short distance from where we were camped.

Just before sunset three vehicles (a Defender, a Sing Song Musso and a bakkie of some sort) arrived towing trailers. The Landy idled over some rocks onto a grass bank and stopped. The Sing Song tried to follow and ended up stuck in the sand. What followed was about an hour of revving the hell out of the Sing Song trying to get it out of the sand. Being at least 500m away it was unclear what the problem was but eventually I think they let some air out of the tyres and the Sing Song made it onto the bank. We had a pleasant evening with the only distraction being the odd vehicle drving along the Rosh Pinah road on the Namibian side.

Mon 12/7 Potjiespram to De Hoop

Our trailer friends left at about 08H30 in the morning and managed to get away without too much trouble. A troop of baboons joined us although they were certainly a lot wilder than the Western Cape bunch and kept their distance. We had a slow pack up ending with a shower and finally left at about 11H15. About 3 – 4 km’s up the track we met the three trailers stopped at the halfmens trees. What they had been doing for nearly three hours I have no idea but I must say I was surprised to see them getting out of their vehicles just as we pulled up behind them. They had a quick look at the halfmens tree on the lower slope and then left. Wanting to keep some distance between us we spent some time looking at the halfmens trees and other plants and photographing them. We eventually left about 20 minutes later and carried on towards De Hoop. Shortly after leaving we came across our trailer friends with another three vehicles behind them. At many stages they (the trailer gang) had places to pull over and let us through but instead they chose to laboriously travel along the trail holding up everyone behind them. We traveled slowly up a rocky pass waiting minutes whilst the trailers battled up in front of us. We finally got down the other side of the pass onto a flat plain and by this stage I had a Parks Board bakkie behind me with some labourers in it. At the first opportunity I pulled over and let them pass as I had decided to hang back to avoid the heavy dust from the six vehicles (now seven) in front of me as well as wanting to travel at a higher speed over the corrugations which being backed up behind several vehicles would not allow. I waited for a while and then took the corrugations at speed soon catching up with the other group. The Parks Board bakkie had managed to overtake when the road split and headed off at high speed.

We traveled down the beautiful Kook river flood plain stopping along the way to take photos. We eventually arrived at the Orange to what looked like a shopping mall on a Saturday morning. Vehicles and people everywhere. De Hoop is supposed to have 5 campsites with a maximum of six people per campsite. We counted 30 – 40 vehicles and well over a hundred people. We headed downstream for about 3.5 km’s looking for a campsite but every available opening was filled with groups of vehicles. Eventually we turned around and headed back and finally found a likely looking place on the banks of the river. I jumped out to have a look around and noticed signs of a flash flood with deep channels through the sand caused by water. Remembering the April flood when the Kook came down and washed a couple of campers tents away we decided to rather move on even though the chances of a repeat at this time of year were remote. We drove past the ablutions and over a small rocky koppie and finally found a space next to the river without too many vehicles around us. We setup camp and watched a continual stream of people walking past our camp. People fishing, kids on air mattresses shooting the rapids past our camp and a general shopping center feeling prevailed. If this was De Hoop, the supposed best camp in the park then give me Potjiespram anyday.

After setting up the tents I decided to go and give the rapid a bash. I put on my fly vest, grabbed my rod and headed upstream. Several people were fishing with bait and the kids were still shooting past on tubes and air mattresses. I was concerned to see several campers keeping fish that they had caught or keeping them out of the water for such a long time that their chances of survival on release was zero. Yellow fish are not the tastiest creatures and while I have no problem with Nama’s catching them to supplement their diet, for campers to be keeping them is plain stupid. I decided that my only chance of getting something would be to cross the rapid to the other side and fish away from the “papgooiers”. I tried crossing just above the rapid but realized that the water was too deep and the current way to strong once you were in above your waist. I eventually managed to cross further up from the rapid although the water was chest deep. To the uninitiated crowds it must have seemed quite strange seeing someone dressed in long pants, long shirt and boots with a fly vest and fly rod wading and lobbing a team of flies into the rapid using short line nymphing techniques. I didn’t care, I was enjoying myself although the lack of takes was worrying. After some time I had waded right up to the top of the rapid into waist deep water when suddenly I hooked what felt like another rock. I gave a couple of sharp tugs upstream to dislodge the flies and suddenly my :rock” took off downstream at speed. After about 35 meters I managed to turn it but being placed where I was would either have to make my way down the rapid to calmer waters or try and fight it back up towards me. I tried the latter and a short while later ended up breaking my 6 lb tippet – damn !

I had no further takes after that and as it was starting to get dark I decided to head back across the rapid and back to camp. Easier said then done. I tried to cross at several places only to encounter very deep water flowing very fast. With the fading light it was practically impossible to see the rocks underwater, which made wading quite interesting. I finally managed to cross/swim further up from the rapid managing to get totally soaked in the process. I did however manage to provide great entertainment to some of the campers.

Tue 13/7 De Hoop

Morning started early for some of the campers as they packed up and left. We got up a bit later and had breakfast whilst listening to a pair of fish eagles calling to each other. I went up onto some koppies behind where we were camped to admire the view and take some photos. Toilet paper littered the top of the koppie with some of it caught in bushes and some of it trailing under rocks. What inspires people to come to a beautiful place like this and leave toilet paper lying all over the place is beyond me. It takes 5 seconds to burn it but this is obviously too much bother for most people, they would rather add to an already serious problem. The ablution blocks should go some way towards addressing this although only one was nearly finished with another one being built close by. The people at the campsites downstream of the ablutions would find it too far to walk meaning the toilet paper problems are likely to continue well into the future. The local Nama’s must look at these people in their fancy 4x4’s with all their equipment and wonder how if they are so “civilized” do they have no idea how to go to the toilet ?

The rest of the day was a casual affair where the hardest decision for the day was what to take out the freezer for the evening braai. Later in the afternoon I decided that if you can’t beat them join them and hauled out the normal rod for a bit of “papgooi”. I had noticed that the local Nama came to the rapid at least twice a day to fish which explained the general lack of fish in the rapid compared to other places on the Orange where I had flyfished with some success. Only problem was that between myself and Philippa we had managed to forget to pack any flour. After rummaging around in the fridge I came up with some mealies and decided to give them a bash. I managed to catch a couple of nice fish and released them back into the water. The kids were having a ball playing in the mud and the shallow water. Some vervet monkeys arrived in the late afternoon but were well behaved and didn’t seem to be hassling any of the campers. We had regular visits from a flock of White eyes, some Bulbuls and many other birds. We had an early braai and crashed.

Wed 14/7 De Hoop

Another fun day doing much the same as the previous day. I went for a long walk downstream in the afternoon and saw that most of the campers on this side were still around whereas our side had quieted down considerably. In the late afternoon a couple arrived with two young girls and camped a short distance upstream from us. Our girls were keen to play with them but were too shy to initiate anything.

Thur 15/7 De Hoop to Richtersberg

Woke up relatively early and started packing. The girls had finally plucked up enough courage to go and play with the other kids and as usual just as we were ready to get going they were settling down to a nice game. The parents of the other girls asked if they could have our campsite as no other decent ones were available. We helped move their ground tent across to our site and then set off for Richtersberg. We took the inland route as opposed to the riverbed route. We had read that the riverbed route was not particularly attractive as it moved away from the river and had lots of deep sand with thick dust. The inland route was very pretty with lots of succulents flowering.
We got to Richtersberg in the early afternoon and found the first campsite and ablution block. A tent was pitched close by but we decided to move on as it was far from the main part of the river. We found the next ablution block and campsite on a nice grass bank next to the main part of the river. As I got out of the Landy to look around a camper came up to me and in no uncertain terms advised that I could camp further up river. The area was quite large but he had decided that no one else was going to camp near them. We left and drove about 1.5 km’s upstream and found a beautiful grass bank over 100m long right next to the river. The only bad thing about the site was that access to the water was via a fairly steep bank into deepish water making access for the girls a problem. Not wanting to worry about them every time they wanted to swim I decided to make them a swimming pool. I found a nice grassy hollow, lined it with my canvas ground sheet and filled it with river water using a pump and some hosepipe I had brought along. Soon they were splashing around in their cozzies whilst Philippa and I relaxed and ate lunch.

The spot was perfect, we were all alone, had a safe pool for the girls to swim in and the bird life was prolific including a very tame Mountain Chat who spent most of his time around our feet begging. The river in fron of us was wide and deep leading up to a rapid about 60m away. River sardines were rising freely with the odd splashy rise from a yellowfish. I tried a number of different dry flies but was unable to entice any of them to take.

A Pajero arrived and we got chatting to a couple who were camping at the first campsite we had come across. Martinus was new to flyfishing and was keen to tackle some yellows. I told him to return the follow morning and I would help him with some short line nymphing. They left and just before sunset two Parks Board bakkies arrived. We chatted to Neil who was down from Pretoria and the architect responsible for the ablution blocks in the park. He also advised us that they were busy building a Wilderness Camp further up river along the lines of the Wilderness Camps in Kgalagadi which he had also designed. He apologized for spoiling our solitude and said they would be leaving early the following morning for a site meeting. We braaied and went to bed early.

Fri 16/7 Richtersberg

Woke up to the sound of fish eagles calling. Our Mountain chat was waiting for his breakfast and was joined by some very tame Cape White Eyes. A bit later in the morning a troop of vervets arrived but spent most of the time eating in the trees. Martinus and Gail arrived as we were eating breakfast and we chatted to them for a while until we finished. I showed Martinus how to setup his leader for Short Line Nymphing and gave him a selection of my flies as his were unsuitable. We kitted up and decided to head downstream to enter the base of the rapid. We walked for quite a distance but were unable to get down to the water as the bush was too thick. We eventually turned around and came back to the top of the rapid below our camp and jumped in. The conditions were not ideal for one fisherman never mind two as the water was too deep and fast flowing. We had a couple of bites but were battling to stay upright in the strong rapid. We decided to head a couple of hundred meters upstream to the next rapid. This one was far more suitable as it was slower flowing and shallower. After a while Martinus hooked and landed a nice smallmouth yellow on a bead headed Zak imitation which I had tied. Unfortunately I hadn’t taken my camera so his first yellow went unrecorded. It was getting towards lunchtime and Martinus was worried about leaving Gail for so long. We returned to the camp and had lunch together discussing the morning’s fishing. We said our goodbyes and Martinus said he would try the rapid where he had caught his first fish early the next morning.

The rest of the day we relaxed, swam and fished with me finally hooking about a 2 kg largemouth plus a couple of other smallmouths at the rapid below us. No one came to our campsite that evening so we shared it with the fish eagles, herons, kingfishers, darters, river cormorants and many other birds. Tessa (our four year old) surprised us by spotting the Southern Cross and Pointers before the sun had set completely. We had been showing her and Sarah the stars every night before they went to bed so it was good to see that some of it had stuck. We had a pleasant evening by ourselves.

Sat 17/7 Richtersberg to Kokerboomkloof

We woke to the sound of a vehicle driving past and got up to start packing. One of the advantages of travelling by yourselves is that you aren’t tied down to a specific leaving time and don’t feel guilty about delaying friends while you pack away. We were visited by the usual birds and our troop of vervets who were starting to get a bit bolder. We left and travelled upstream to go and have a look at the new Wilderness Camp which was under construction. Neil had advised us that it was out of bounds but said we could bypass the No Entry sign and go and take a look. Another point he mentioned is that they would be closing down the campsite we had stayed at once the Wilderness Camp was built as it could be seen from the Wilderness Camp. This will be a great pity as this campsite is without doubt one of the best in the park. Besides the prolific bird and fish life, the river is positioned in an East/West orientation which means you get beautiful sunrises and sunsets over the water.

The design of the Wilderness Camp reminded me of the Kalahari Tented camp in the KTP which we had stayed at in Dec 2003. The main difference is that instead of canvas they use local Nama building methods for the roof and walls. The camp is set a fair distance from the river on a hillside overlooking a vast stretch of the river. When complete it will definitely be worth a visit. We browsed around and took some photos and then left for Kokerboomkloof. On the way out of Richterberg we met up with Martinus and Gail again. Martinus was very chuffed as he had caught a nice size yellow at the same rapid from the previous day, this time using a weighted Caddis Green Rock Worm which I had tied using some chartreuse Sparkle Shred I had bought at a hobby shop in Langebaan a couple of weeks before. It’s good to know that at least some of the patterns I tie work.

We said our goodbyes and headed off to Kokerboomkloof. On the way you travel through the Springbokvlakte which is a wide gravel plain similar to the types found in Northern Namibia. The track swings North and you head towards some interesting looking mountains. We stopped at the Tatasberg viewpoint and the scenery was spectacular. Giant boulders litter the place and a lot of the rocks you walk on are slowly peelimg like giant onions from the weathering. If you stamp on the rocks they sound hollow from this peeling effect. After taking some photos we headed off towards the Springbokvlakte viewpoint a short distance away. This lookout is even more beautiful with the Springbokvlakte surrounded by beautifully coloured mountains and generous helpings of Kokerboom trees. Philippa commented that it reminded her of the lookout from the top of Van Zyl’s pass over the Marienfluss. We reluctantly left the lookout point and headed for the campsite.

As you get closer to the campsite you start seeing large rock formations and lots of Kokerboom’s, Botterboom’s, Euphorbia’s and Hoodia’s covering the ground. We arrived at the campsite to find four separate campsites each with their own ablution block. The ablution blocks were extremely well made and blended in very well with the rocks. We travelled to each site to try and decide where we wanted to stay. We eventually chose one but were disappointed to see that the previous campers had left their rubbish lying around. Wine bottles in the washing up area, half full milk cartons, tins and other litter scattered around the campsite and ablution block. We picked everything up and added it to our own growing mound of rubbish bags.

As it was still quite hot I decided not to setup the tents yet but rather wait until it had cooled down a bit. I went for a walk up the kloof behind the campsite to a large rock, which overlooked the whole area. The scenery was beautiful, spoilt only by the toilet paper flowers growing out from under every rock and plant. I walked back down to Philippa and the girls to join them for lunch. A gang of Palewinged Starlings and a couple of Cape Buntings had already joined them. These birds, like the Mountain Chats and White Eyes at the other campsites were very tame and spent most of their time almost under our feet.

Later when it had cooled down a bit, I took my cameras and tripod for a walk around the whole area. The plant life is prolific in this area and you need to keep a constant lookout to avoid standing on some of the smaller species. I climbed up one of the rocky mounds and discovered a large Jacuzzi weathered into the rock. It was a couple of meters in diameter and could have comfortably seated 6 – 8 adults. All it lacked was water although when it rains it would be just perfect. Speaking of water, Neil had told me that when they built the ablutions at Kokerboomkloof they had drilled extensively in the area for water but found nothing. They eventually had to give up as they ran out of money but hopefully one day someone will come up with the money to lay a pipeline from the river about 8.5 km’s away. The ablutions are the only ones in the park without water although all the taps and pipes have been laid. The toilets still work and use a septic tank system.

I walked quite a distance from the campsites taking photos and was happy to see that the further away from the campsites you got the less toilet paper and damage to plants was evident. Some idiot had driven off the track crushing plants and eventually causing erosion. Why this is necessary is beyond me but I guess it takes all types. I eventually arrived back at the campsite just after sunset in time to setup the tents and braai. Being the only people in the area was great as we got to really appreciate the silence and beauty of the place. Philippa and I got chatting and decided to skip our second night at Kokerboomkloof and rather take a more leisurely journey home and sleep over somewhere instead of trying to make it back to Cape Town in one day.

Sun 18/7 Kokerboomkloof to Kamieskroon

We had a slow start to the morning and finally got going at around 10H50. The plan was not to rush things but to see how far we got and then stay over somewhere between Springbok and Cape Town. We left a very forlorn looking Cape Bunting and headed back to the Springbokvlakte. The track pollution in this area is very bad, as people have made new tracks in an effort to get away from the corrugations instead of driving at the correct speed to negate them. In addition to this the parks board have created “speed bumps” along the road to act as storm water cutoffs to prevent the roads turning into rivers and causing massive erosion. Some clever travellers simply drive around these causing more erosion and defeating the object of the cutoffs.

As you get closer to De Koei you start climbing and the plant life increases dramatically. When we eventually arrived at what is marked as the De Koei campsite I was a bit puzzled as it seems to be a flattish area right next to the road. I followed some of the well used tracks to see if I could discover a “proper” campsite but only found a windmill and a couple of water tanks. While the plant life in this area is worth exploration I would not plan to camp a night at De Koei unless it was an emergency. We left and headed towards the Helskloof exit gate.

This part of the drive through the Helskloof pass is very pretty with lots of different plants including hillsides filled with Aloe Pearsonii. We arrived at the exit gate about 2 hours after leaving Kokerboomkloof and signed out. The guard told us we could dump our rubbish in the bins provided which we did. We headed down the gravel roads past Kuboes and eventually intercepted the tar road between Port Nolloth and Steinkopf. We had our usual pitstop at the Springbok Café and then phoned the Kamieskroon.Hotel to see if they had a room for us.

We arrived at the Kamieskroon Hotel at about 17H30 and booked for dinner. We had last stayed there a couple of years ago and got our same family room. Dinner was a four course affair with the beautiful photos (either Freeman Patterson or Colla Swart’s – can’t remember which) on the diningroom wall for company. After dinner we crashed early.

Mon 19/7 Kamieskroon to Home

We had a good breakfast, packed, paid and went to fill up at the local Shell garage in Kamieskroon. The trip home was uneventful with traffic increasing steadily from Vanrhynsdorp. We arrived home at 15H00 in one piece.

“We did not think of the great open plains, the beautiful rolling hills, and winding streams with tangled growth as “wild”. Only to the white man was nature a “wilderness” and only to him was the land “infested” with “wild” animals and “savage” people. To us it was tame. Earth was bountiful and we were surrounded with the blessings of the Great Mystery. Not until the hairy man from the east came and with brutal frenzy heaped injustices upon us and the families we loved was it “wild” for us. When the very animals of the forest began fleeing from his approach, then it was that for us the “Wild West” began.”

Chief Luther Standing Bear of the Oglala Sioux
From the Afterword of How to Shit in the Woods – Kathleen Meyer

General Info
The park is jointly managed by SA National Parks and the Nama people in the area. It is a unique park in that the local Nama’s live and farm livestock in the park. Please respect them and their belongings and remember that you are guests on their land and should behave appropriately. While the Nama’s benefit directly from visitors to the park they also receive a number of grants including a very large one from Alexcor after winning their court case. Whether they actually need visitors driving all over their land and destroying it is debatable. They must wonder about these “civilized” visitors in their fancy 4x4’s with all the latest gadgets most of whom have no idea how to go to the toilet properly.

Ecology
The Richtersveld boasts the highest biodiversity of succulent plants in the world! However it is also home to some of the rarest plants in the world, some of which can be found only in a single gorge, on a single mountain slope or on small sections of gravel plain. By driving off the main tracks, your chances of wiping out an entire species are very real. Remember that a lot of the plants in the area are visible only when they flower, so don’t think that because you can’t see anything that you aren’t destroying them. To really appreciate the park and all it has to offer, it’s worth reading Graham Williamson’s excellent book: Richtersveld: The Enchanted Wilderness.

Cost
The cost of camping in the park for 2 adults and 2 kids for 8 nights was R1000.00. The daily park entry fees were free as we had a Wild Card. Check the SA Parks website http://www.parks-sa.co.za/ for the latest prices.

The Kamieskroon hotel cost R350 for a family room. R80 pp for dinner, kids reduced price and R35 pp for breakfast.

Driving
The driving in the park is pretty mild. Rock, corrugated gravel roads and the odd bit of thick sand are all you will have to contend with. I kept my tyres at full road pressure throughout the trip and never had any problems. You do however need fairly strong tyres as punctures on the sharp rocks are common. Please stay on the main tracks and do not create new ones.

Ablutions
By the end of the year, most of the campsites ablutions will be up and running. All of them (with the exception of Kokerboomkloof) have running water, a washing up area, flush toilets and showers. You will however need to take your own drinking water as it’s not recommended to drink the river water without boiling or treating it first. If you are away from the ablution blocks, please remember to dig a hole at least 20cm deep and at least 50m away from any water courses. Please remember to burn your toilet paper!

Maps
I used Tracks4Africa maps (v 3.2 beta) for pre-trip planning and for all navigation through the park. I also used SATOPO maps for Garmin GPS receivers, which gives contour lines, rivers and other useful information. The map you get given at reception is pretty useless as it’s been copied several hundred times and is practically unreadable. With T4A and SATOPO you will not need any other maps and most of the paper maps on the market are terribly inaccurate.

Useful Telephone Numbers
SA Parks Reservations – 012 4289111
Richtersveld National Park – 027 8311506
Brandkaros Campsite – 027 8311856
Kamieskroon Hotel – 027 6721614
African Expedition Company - 0825661821

Useful Websites
SA Parks – http://www.parks-sa.co.za
Accomodation - http://www.richtersveld.co.za/
Kamieskroon Hotel - http://www.agape.co.za/kk/kkroon.htm
T4A - http://www.tracks4africa.com
SATOPO - http://home.telkomsa.net/cpac/satopo/
African Expedition Company - http://www.african-expeditions.com/index.html 

Additional Reading
Richtersveld: The Enchanted Wilderness – Graham Williamson
The Richtersveld National Park – Graham Williamson
The Glamour of Prospecting – Fred Cornell
Tracks and Trails of the Richtersveld – KW Reck
Garden of the Gods – Freeman Patterson
Regions of Floristic Endemism in Southern Africa - Abraham E van Wyk, Gideon F Smith
List of Southern African Succulent Plants - Gideon F Smith et. Al
How to Shit in the Woods – Kathleen Meyer

Most of these can be purchased at the Springbok Café if you are battling to find them.

"Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters."

Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through It