From Kamiesberg To The Coast

The annual explosion of orange daisies around Skilpad rest camp in Namaqua National Park is stunning, but drive deeper into the park and you’ll see even more wildflowers, all the way to the windswept waves of the Atlantic Ocean.

- Evan Naude

THE BIRTH OF A PARK

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) bought a part of a farm called Skilpad in 1988. About 10 years later, SANParks took over the management of this wildflower reserve and acquired more farms in the area. In 2008, a section of coastline between the mouths of the Spoeg River and Groen River, previously a De Beers mining area, was incorporated into the park. SANParks is adding more land to the park on a continual basis – it’s currently 1400km² in size.

I zip open my tent and a light sea breeze puffs its salty breath inside. The waves pound the rocks metres away, the sound fading into static, like a radio looking for signal.

I get out of the tent, and then I see it: a clear, blue sky. Nothing. Not a whisp of cloud. “Sam!” I yell. “The sun’s out, we’ll see flowers today!”

It’s our third morning of four in Namaqua National Park, and until now the sky has been low and overcast – not great for seeing wildflowers. You never complain about rain in this arid part of the country, but this morning I’m ecstatic about its absence.

We set off and drive north along the coast to the mouth of the Spoeg River. The dark blue sea is on our left for kilometres on end. Closer inshore, foamy waves and dark rocks.

At the river mouth, we turn right and drive into the northern section of the park at the Hondeklip Bay gate, following the Caracal Eco Route. A jeep track leads over the succulent Karoo plains in shades of green and brown, until we reach the deserted Riethuis farmstead. We pull over to look at the wheel of an old horse mill in the shed, then drive on.

From Riethuis, we climb to the plateau via Wildeperdehoek Pass (no wild horses, but there were once mountain zebra here). Behind us, shafts of sunlight fall on the plains of Namaqualand.