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Northen Cape Province - Upington |
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North-central part of Northern Cape Province. A substantial, very pleasant town and major communications (road, rail, air) centre that serves the farms and ranches of the vast Northern Cape interior. Upington, named after a Cape colonial prime minister, lies on the banks of the Orange River, whose reaches and midstream islands are lush with irrigated vineyards and plantations of date-palms, cotton, lucerne and various fruits (saltanas, raisins; the area draws much of its prosperity from the dried-fruit industry). The flattish, sandy Kalahari plains to either side of the river also sustain cattle and karakul sheep (whose wool is known as Persian lamb) and yield a wondrous number and variety of semi-precious stones - amethyst and beryl, agate, jasper, rose quartz, tourmaline, tiger's eye - as well as rubies and the occasional gem-quality diamond. The town is noted for, among other things, its unusually long (1,067-metre) railway bridge and 5.5-kilometre airport runway - said to be the southern hemisphere's longest - and is a convenient stopover on your journey to either the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park or the splendid Augrabies falls (see further on). Upington was founded in 1871 as a mission station whose first cleric, Christian Schroder, launched the region's first irrigation scheme. Cultivated lands now stretch beyond the town of Kakamas some 80 kilometres to the west. Well Highlights is Kanoneiland, 25 or so kilometres downstream: it's one of the bigger and more developed of the densely wooded islands which, together, once served as a refuge for sections of the warlike Korana folk, river-pirates and rustlers whose raiding forays in the 1860s provoked three punitive military expeditions from distant Cape Town. Museum Housed in what was once the mission complex, at the southern end of Schroder Street. The museum offers an intriguing insight into the story of the town and of the lower Orange River. In the grounds is a statue of a camel - a puzzling feature at first glance, perhaps, but its presence is quite logical: Upington spent its early days as a rugged frontier station; local police got around the vast, sandy territory on these supremely desert-adapted animals. Product Tours Take time out to visit the karakul research station, the local dried-fruit co-operative (second largest in the world) and the cellars of the country's most northerly wine co-operative. Palm Avenue The route that leads into the popular Eiland Leisure Resort is rather more than 1,000 metres long and is lined by around 200 stately palms. It makes a pleasant drive, with plenty of fun and relaxation at the end of it. Spitskop Nature Reserve This largish expanse of semi-desert wilderness, just to the north of Upington, is home to the handsome, beautifully adapted gemsbok (an animal that can go for months without drinking water; it gets its moisture from the plants it eats) and other antelope, and to zebra and ostrich. Visitors have access to about 30 kilometres of game-viewing roads. Keimoes and Kakamas These two villages lie on the banks of the Orange River to the west, on the way to the Augrabies Falls and National Park (see below). They're both attractive little places set among green plantations, and both are noted for their giant waterwheels - Victorian relics that still function efficiently. Features of the countryside are the pear trees, and the deposits of lovely rose quartz, tourmaline and amethyst. Kakamas, surrounded by vineyards and fields of lucerne and cotton, has a good hotel. Near Keimoes is the Tierberg Nature Reserve, a modest area noted for its winter-flowering aloes (especially the Gariep aloe) and its population of springbok. There are fine views of the surrounding countryside from the crest of the 'berg itself. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park The first of Southern Africa's cross-border or 'peace' parks, a place of red desert dunes and thinly grassed plains that comes to glorious life when the rare rains fall; of far horizons and brilliant sunsets, and of an astonishingly prolific (and visible) wildlife complement, including springbok, gemsbok, red hartebeest, lions (some of them, the males, with black manes) and, above all, of fleet-footed cheetahs. Upington is a comfortable stopover on your way north to the park; conducted tours set out from the town. Augrabies Falls About 110 kilometres downstream from Upington (take the R64 to Kakamas and then bear north-west), the Orange River roars through an immense, 18-kilometre long granite gorge and then plunges in a series of cascades - about 20 of them, merging to a single cataract in flood season - to the turbulence of the pools far below. The canyon, its walls a jagged moonscape of cliffs and buttresses, is almost a quarter of a kilometre deep in places; the Augrabies is ranked among the world's six biggest waterfalls. Much of the desolate-looking Kalahari countryside to the either side of the gorge - more than 70,000 hectares (173,000 acres) of it - has been set aside as a National Park that serves as home to black rhino (it's one of Africa's safest havens for this seriously endangered species), giraffe, zebra, and for various kinds of antelope. The grasslands are sparse enough, but there are nutritious succulents for the animals to feed on, and acacias and quiver trees thrive along the riverbanks. The park hosts a surprising 160 or so bird species; the raptors are especially notable. Worth driving to is Moon Rock, a massive granite dome that rises up from the plains. Visitor amenities include a network of game-viewing roads; hiking trails; accommodation in self-catering cottages; information centre; pool; restaurant; shop; petrol filling point. Roaring Sands One of Southern Africa's weirder natural features, these consist of a high, 9-kilometre long dune island which rises above, and whose whiteness contrast sharply with, the reddish colour of the surrounding, flat countryside about 120 kilometres to the south-east of Upington. In especially dry conditions, the dunes emit an eerie moaning sound, which sometimes turns into a muted roar, even if one simply runs one's hand through the sand. Cause of the phenomenon is rather obscure (at least to the ordinary layman) but has something to do with the varying composition of the granules. Upington isn't really near anywhere. Take the N14 east, though, and you'll eventually get to Vryburg, Kuruman and then, by a different route, to the Johannesburg-Pretoria area far to the east. The N10 will take you both south-east to Prieska and west, towards the Atlantic ocean, to the Namaqualand town of Springbok. |
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UPINGTON Western Cape
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