SEPTEMBER 2020

DAY 5

Ai-Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park (“De Hoop” → “Richtersberg” campsite)

We had an early breakfast of coffee and rusks before it was time to pack up our tents and get ready to drive to our next camp site for the night, namely Richtersberg.

Although today’s drive will be a short one – around 50km – it will be a rough road, as well as an enjoyable drive through a dry river bed. The journey should therefore take around 3 hours.

It was great to drive in the valley with the mountains on both sides. Since there are not much shade on this road, it is important to ensure your vehicle (and tyres) are in a good condition – you don’t want to be caught with a faulty car in this barren landscape and fierce sun!

If you’re alert, you will be able to see a lot of beautiful quiver trees in the park. These trees have green succulent “leaves” at the top – they almost appear to be growing upside-down. Their branches are hollow and the San people used them as quivers for their arrows – thereby the name of the tree.

We were taking a slow drive through the park and often stopped to take some photo’s – it may look dry, but the moment we got out of our car, we saw beautiful plants and small flowers.

The drive along the dry river bed was a really enjoyable one. The rock formations were spectacular (there are a few photo’s of this in our next post). At some places the sand was thick, but easy to drive … it was just such a beautiful side of the park.

Once we were out of the river bed, the road once again changed into a hard and rocky one, going through small sections in between high rock formation.

It was a long and rocky drive towards our camp site, Richtersberg. But once we got closer, the landscape started to change and we could see green bushes and trees where the Orange river is flowing.

Carel found the perfect spot for us where we could camp for the night – once again on the bank of the Orange river and such a peaceful site.

It was quite hot when we arrived at Richtersberg. Estelle had some tasty meat pastries and we sat in the shade while having a light lunch. Carel decided to have another go with his fly-fishing rod and it was not long before he caught a beautiful yellow fish!

This was enough encouragement for Berto and Frans to try their luck in the river … but in the end it was just a nice cooling down time for them in the water.

It was a great afternoon relaxing next to the river. We were in such a great space of tranquility – away from all the hustle and bustle of the everyday life.

Me and Berto took a long walk after it cooled down in the late afternoon to explore our surroundings. We saw a structure that were probably once a home to a migrating farmer – they do live in harsh conditions.

Once again, we were blessed to see the beautiful colours of the mountains as the sun was setting.

Tonight we make two fires – it’s our last night in the park and we had such a great time!

On one fire, Berto prepared a rib of lamb and on the other one, Carel made the most delicious springbok filet medallions. Estelle made the side dishes, that consists of mash and sweet carrots … what a feast we had here next to the Orange river!

Tomorrow we will leave the park and drive towards Vioolsdrift, where we will overnight at a stunning river camp – The Grocery – more about this in our next post.

To read about Day 6, click here …