Northern Cape travel

The Northern Cape lies to the south of the mighty Orange River and comprises mostly desert and semi-desert. The landscape is characterised by vast arid plains with outcroppings of haphazard rock piles. The cold Atlantic Ocean forms the western boundary. This region covers the largest area of all the provinces yet has the smallest population. The last remaining true San (Bushman) people live in the Kalahari area of the Northern Cape. The whole area, especially along the Orange and Vaal rivers, is rich in San rock engravings. The province is also rich in fossils.

The first people of the Northern Cape were the San, who were gradually pushed out of the area by the arrival of Europeans, and other African tribes. The Dutch came to the area to mine for copper under the famous Cape governor Simon van der Stel. Mining has always defined the history in this part of the world and, when diamonds were discovered in Kimberley, unprecedented growth took place in the province under the leadership of men such as Barney Barnato and Cecil John Rhodes. In 1899, the Northern province was the scene of the Anglo-Boer War, where Kimberley was one of the first towns to be besieged by the Boers.

Climate: Apart from a narrow strip of winter-rainfall area along the coast, the Northern Cape is a semi-arid region with little rainfall in summer. The weather conditions are extreme cold and frosty in winter, and extremely high temperatures in summer. Sutherland, in the Hantam Karoo, is one of the coldest towns in southern Africa with an average winter minimum is -6º Celsius. In winter, snow often blankets its surrounding mountains.

The Northern Cape's sheer size, clear skies, flamboyant sunsets, brilliant starry nights and incredible silence is powerfully intoxicating. This is the kind of place you want to take in slowly.

North Cape accommodation

The Northern Cape is all about wide-open spaces, an utterly beautiful coastline and a number of unique national parks offering the tourist a very different experience of the South Africa landscape. Boasting a colourful history and a variety of cultural tourist attractions.
Northern Cape accommodation

South Africa safari

A South Africa Tour is the easy way of getting around South Africa. We at Uyaphi.comspecialise in tailor-made tours and scheduled or daily excursions. Enjoy the diversity of this region with the security, convenience, flexibility and knowledge that these professional guides offer.
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South Africa hotels

South Africa Hotel and accommodation in every area of this beautiful country. We offer a large and comprehensive portfolio of hotels, B&B's, guesthouses and game lodges from Cape Town in the South to Kruger National Park in the North including Natal, Eastern cape & Garden Route.
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Richtersveld National Park

The Richtersveld National Park is situated in North-Western Namaqualand. Here, the landscape is rough and unforgiving. Some of the more rugged landscapes have been given names such as Skeleton Gorge, Devil's Tooth and Helskloof (hell's gorge). The area is popular with 4x4 enthusiasts.

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, together with the Gemsbok National Park in Botswana, is Africa's first transfrontier game park, known as the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. It is one of the largest nature conservation areas in southern Africa, and one of the largest remaining protected natural ecosystems in the world.

Augrabies Falls

One of the lesser-known game parks in the country, it is here, on the Orange River, that Africa's second largest waterfall thunders down into a granite gorge in a spectacular display. Adventure activities are par for the course at this attraction, including rafting, hiking and cycling as well as canoe trails.

The Big Hole at Kimberley

The famous Big Hole at Kimberley five-hundred-metre wide cavity that sits at a depth of around 240m was dug manually by pick and shovel by diamond miners, and is known to be the largest man-made excavation sight in the world. This hole remains the major attraction for visitors to this part of the world.

The Kalahari

The Kalahari is home to endless spaces and huge African skies. This arid wasteland gets its name from the San word `kglagagadi', which means 'thirsty land'. The desert boasts a variety of unique flora & fauna. The Kalahari reaches from the Orange River up to Angola, in the west to Namibia and in the east to Zimbabwe.

Orange River

The Orange River in southern Africa, one of the longest rivers on the African continent. Rising in the Lesotho Highlands the river flows to the Atlantic Ocean for some 2200km. The Oranje is a quiet and peaceful river, hardly touched by tourism and is responsible for the diamond deposits along the Cape West coast.

Northern Cape travel planner

The key to a successful Northern Cape Holiday is having an agent that has great local knowledge, experience and excellent products.

At Uyaphi.com we offer a wide and comprehensive portfolio of scheduled, self drive and tailor-made tours & safaris as well as accommodation/ lodging and vehicle hire for travel in the Cape.

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