By Roxanne Reid
In my blog Strange bedfellows in the Richtersveld I mouthed off about how ugly the entrance to this wilderness area is when you approach Sendelingsdrif from Alexander Bay. Now I’m going to tell you why you just have to make the journey to see this mountain desert anyway.
In my blog Strange bedfellows in the Richtersveld I mouthed off about how ugly the entrance to this wilderness area is when you approach Sendelingsdrif from Alexander Bay. Now I’m going to tell you why you just have to make the journey to see this mountain desert anyway.
The truth is that once you pass the turnoff to the Hand of God and the Oena Mine, about 30km from the entrance gate, the scenery becomes awesome. This is mountain desert, one of the most arid regions in the country. (It gets only 40-150mm of rain a year; by comparison, in a single winter storm where I live in Cape Town, we got 95mm in 24 hours.)
‘Arid? Desert? How can the scenery be beautiful?’ you might wonder. Oh but it can.
‘Arid? Desert? How can the scenery be beautiful?’ you might wonder. Oh but it can.
I love this vista so much, I'm using it as my PC screensaver
Flaky rocks
There are undulating plains, rolling hills and rugged mountains. Some are almost entirely nude of vegetation, others awash in bushes and tiny flowers. Even the naked mountains are remarkable, some of them with zebra-stripes, others breaking up like a Cadbury chocolate Flake. Some rocks here are 2000 million years old. Glacial sediments are plonked right next to brooding volcanic rocks, and there are so many variations it’s like a geologist’s wet dream.
Quiver tree
Some plants appear to grow on solid rock
As for the plants, you might have to grovel around on your hands and knees to appreciate some of them, but that they survive here at all is a feat. With such low rainfall, they rely on moisture from the malmokkie, or early morning fog, that rolls in from the Atlantic Ocean. In one square kilometre you might find as many as 360 different species.
Signature plants include gnarled shepherd’s trees (witgat), quiver trees, as well as an amazing array of succulents, including some that look like stones till they burst into flower. Botanists from all over the world come here to study them.
But perhaps the strangest plant here is the endemic halfmens, a succulent with a thick spiny stem that can grow up to three metres tall. The rate at which they grow is in harmony with the slow pace of life in the Richtersveld: just 1-1.5 centimetres a year.
Signature plants include gnarled shepherd’s trees (witgat), quiver trees, as well as an amazing array of succulents, including some that look like stones till they burst into flower. Botanists from all over the world come here to study them.
But perhaps the strangest plant here is the endemic halfmens, a succulent with a thick spiny stem that can grow up to three metres tall. The rate at which they grow is in harmony with the slow pace of life in the Richtersveld: just 1-1.5 centimetres a year.
Halfmens
And if all of this richness isn't enough, there’s a wealth of stars in the night sky. Here at campsites and wilderness camps in the Richtersveld, where light pollution is unheard of, mountains are ancient and fiercely magnificent, you can come to find peace, de-clutter your mind and recharge your batteries.
If you haven't been yet, add it to your bucket list. If you have even a small spark of wildness in your soul, you won't be sorry.
Like it? Pin this image!
If you haven't been yet, add it to your bucket list. If you have even a small spark of wildness in your soul, you won't be sorry.
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
