| Home to the ancient San people, the Northern
Cape is about wide-open spaces, an utterly beautiful coastline
and a number of unique national parks offering the tourist
a very different experience of the South African landscape.
This province boasts a colourful history and a variety
of cultural tourist attractions and is particularly well
known for its incredible annual floral display that takes
place in Namaqualand.
The Northern Cape lies to the south of the mighty Orange River and
comprises mostly desert and semi-desert. The landscape is characterised
by vast arid plains with outcroppings of haphazard rock piles. The cold
Atlantic Ocean forms the western boundary. This region covers the largest
area of all the provinces yet has the smallest population. The last
remaining true San (Bushman) people live in the Kalahari area of the
Northern Cape. The whole area, especially along the Orange and Vaal
rivers, is rich in San rock engravings. The province is also rich in
fossils.
The first people of the Northern Cape were the San,
who were gradually pushed out of the area by the arrival
of Europeans, and other African tribes. The Dutch came
to the area to mine for copper under the famous Cape
governor Simon van der Stel. Mining has always defined
the history in this part of the world and, when diamonds
were discovered in Kimberley, unprecedented growth took
place in the province under the leadership of men such
as Barney Barnato and Cecil John Rhodes. In 1899, the
Northern province was the scene of the Anglo-Boer War,
where Kimberley was one of the first towns to be besieged
by the Boers.
Apart from a narrow strip of winter-rainfall area
along the coast, the Northern Cape is a semi-arid region
with little rainfall in summer. The weather conditions
are extreme cold and frosty in winter, and extremely
high temperatures in summer. Sutherland, in the Hantam
Karoo, is one of the coldest towns in southern Africa
with an average winter minimum is -6º Celsius.
In winter, snow often blankets its surrounding mountains.
The Northern Cape’s sheer size, clear skies, flamboyant sunsets,
brilliant starry nights and incredible silence is powerfully
intoxicating. This is the kind of place you want to take in slowly.
Source: South Africa Tourism
• Kimberley, with its Big Hole, is the largest
man-made excavation in the world. The Kimberley Tram
service dates from the beginning of the century and
still transports passengers from the City Hall to the
Mine Museum. Underground mine tours are a big attraction.
• The Orange River Wine Cellars Co-op in Upington offers
wine-tasting and cellar tours. The South African Dried
Fruit Co-operative is the second largest in the world.
• Moffatt's Mission in Kuruman is a tranquil place, featuring
the house of missionary Robert Moffatt, the father-in-law
of explorer David Livingstone.
• Namaqualand, the land of the Nama and San
people, puts on a spectacular show in spring when a
floral splendour covers vast tracts of desert.
• A cultural centre at Wildebeestkuil outside
Kimberley features !Xun and Khwe artwork for sale and
a tour of rock engravings by these indigenous people.
• The 100m high, 9km long, 2km wide white sand
dune at the Witsand Nature Reserve near Postmasburg.
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