NORTHERN CAPE CAMPSITES

More about camping in Northern Cape

The Northern Cape is the biggest province in South Africa and the least populated. Most of it is Karoo - semi-arid, achingly beautiful, and almost completely undeveloped. The campsites here range from established rest camps in the Augrabies Falls and Kgalagadi parks to nothing more than a cleared spot on a working farm with a longdrop and a fire ring. This is where overlanders come for solitude. The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, straddling the Botswana border in the northwest, is one of the great wildlife destinations on the continent - red sand dunes, black-maned Kalahari lions, and night sky that reminds you how far you are from anything. Further south, the Namaqualand coast offers one of the world's most dramatic wildflower displays in August and September, with campsites along a coastline cold enough for the Benguela Current. The Orange River runs the length of the province's southern border, with canoe trails and river camping that appeals to a different kind of adventurer. Ground clearance is useful across most of the Northern Cape; 4x4 is required for anything serious in the Kgalagadi and the back roads south of Upington. Fuel planning is essential - distances between towns here are not Western Cape distances.