By Roxanne Reid
Have you ever felt like dropping out of the rat race and finding space to unmuddle your mind? The Tatasberg wilderness camp in the /Ai/Ais-Richtersveld Transfrontier Park is a perfect place to do just that.
Have you ever felt like dropping out of the rat race and finding space to unmuddle your mind? The Tatasberg wilderness camp in the /Ai/Ais-Richtersveld Transfrontier Park is a perfect place to do just that.
On our way from Sendelingsdrif, where we entered the park, to Tatasberg, we found the route up Halfmens Pass easy but corrugated. Further on, the Akkedis Pass wound steeply from side to side like a lizard, taking us slowly over rocky patches to 566m.
Three klipspringers bolted away from us, up a 60-degree koppie littered with slippery rocks, as if it were easy. The view from the top stopped us in our tracks, extravagant layers of surreal pink, mauve or grey mountains laid out before us.
Tatasberg wilderness camp’s setting along the Orange River gives a broad view of the river and some mountains on the Namibian side. We went for ‘beach’ walks in the sand along the river’s edge, climbed koppies to get a different view, or sat on our wooden deck and listened to the water burbling over the rocks and the fish eagles calling.
We spent four days there and loved it. It has to be said, though, that some things need a bit of work. The cabin’s walls are made from reeds and canvas, the ceilings from reed mats stitched together in the traditional method used in Nama matjieshuise (dome-shaped reed huts). But the Velcro fastenings of some of the ‘window’ flaps have been battered by dust and wind over the years so they don’t hold all that well and could do with replacing.
We spent four days there and loved it. It has to be said, though, that some things need a bit of work. The cabin’s walls are made from reeds and canvas, the ceilings from reed mats stitched together in the traditional method used in Nama matjieshuise (dome-shaped reed huts). But the Velcro fastenings of some of the ‘window’ flaps have been battered by dust and wind over the years so they don’t hold all that well and could do with replacing.
The deck at our Tatasberg chalet
The view of the Orange River from the deck
One afternoon hubby was snoozing (it had started as ‘reading’) on his bed when the wind ripped one flap open and the whole thing smacked him in the face and startled him awake.
Once he recovered his composure, he was thrilled to be able to use some of the junk he carries around with him everywhere ‘in case of emergencies’. By the time he was finished he’d used a quarter roll of duct tape, a wooden pole that had fallen out of the pergola and was just sitting there, and one of his packing straps to hold it all in place.
Once he recovered his composure, he was thrilled to be able to use some of the junk he carries around with him everywhere ‘in case of emergencies’. By the time he was finished he’d used a quarter roll of duct tape, a wooden pole that had fallen out of the pergola and was just sitting there, and one of his packing straps to hold it all in place.
It's not pretty, but it kept the wind at bay
Eager to follow another route back to Sendelingsdrif, we asked camp attendant Seth Domrogh for his advice. He explained that the shortcut road via Richtersberg and De Hoop (via R6 and R11 on the map) is certainly deep sand, which reception had warned us about when we set out.
What they hadn’t told us was that there’s another path closer to the mountain, which is rocky but much easier.
‘If you go to the Richtersberg campsite’s ablutions, you’ll see the two routes and can choose the higher one,’ he said.
What they hadn’t told us was that there’s another path closer to the mountain, which is rocky but much easier.
‘If you go to the Richtersberg campsite’s ablutions, you’ll see the two routes and can choose the higher one,’ he said.
Seth Domrogh
Then he added, ‘But why don’t you go via the Domrogh Pass instead? It’s beautiful.’
Built by members of his own family, the pass follows the route from R16 and R14 on your map before it rejoins the route back over Akkedis Pass at R3.
Built by members of his own family, the pass follows the route from R16 and R14 on your map before it rejoins the route back over Akkedis Pass at R3.
From Domrogh Pass
The pass took us past strange dark-striped mountains, with different rock formations to vary the scenery, and through areas where the recent rainfall must have been higher than at Tatasberg if the greenness and number of bossies were anything to judge by. It curled up in a series of ‘must-stop’ viewpoints onto a plateau at 653m where the road became easy for a while, less corrugated than the route we had taken to Tatasberg a few days earlier, and the world hummed with silence.
Was every vista we saw on our Richtersveld trip beautiful? No, but even the ugly ones were intriguing in their own way. Would I go to Tatasberg again? In a heartbeat.
Which is your favourite camp or campsite in the Richtersveld? Share your views in the comments below.
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Was every vista we saw on our Richtersveld trip beautiful? No, but even the ugly ones were intriguing in their own way. Would I go to Tatasberg again? In a heartbeat.
Which is your favourite camp or campsite in the Richtersveld? Share your views in the comments below.
Like it? Pin this image!
More about the Richtersveld
Copyright © Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without permission from roxannereid.co.za
Copyright © Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without permission from roxannereid.co.za
