Northern Cape Attractions
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Top Tourist Attractions in Northern Cape
The Northern Cape province is the largest in area of all the South African provinces, but due to its extremely dry climate, has less than 2% of the country's population.The Northern Cape's Augrabies Falls, the world's six largest waterfall at 200m/656ft deep, are fittingly named from the Khoi word which means 'place of great noise'. The Augrabies Falls National Park and the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park are among the best known of the Northern Cape's reserves.The discovery of the 83-carat 'Star of South Africa' diamond marked the beginning of the world's greatest diamond rush and in Kimberley, the Northern Cape's capital, is the 'Big Hole', the largest hand-dug excavation in the world. Other attractions include ancient cave and rock paintings, late Stone Age artifacts and reminders of the Anglo-Boer conflict.The Northern Cape's main sources of income are agriculture and mining. The regional language is Afrikaans.
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Augrabies Falls National Park
The spectacular Augrabies Falls, now a national park, are located along the Orange River, near the border with Namibia. The falls run through a dramatic rock gorge in a very arid surrounding.
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Kalahari Gemsbok National Park
Kalahari Gemsbok National Park is closely associated neighboring Gemsbok National Park in Botswana, which together form a large tract of land covering 27,000 sq.km.
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Kathu, South Africa
Kathu, 50km/31mi southwest of Kuruman, is the youngest town in South Africa, founded only in 1980. It now has a population of almost 10,000. The town owes its existence to the Iron and Steel Corporation (ISCOR), which erected modern functional buildings here and in the neighboring settlement of Sishen to house miners working the nearby deposits of iron ore, believed to be the largest in South Africa. Here too was established a nature reserve with an area of over 2000ha/5000ac in which are elands, springboks, gazelles, kudus, impalas, rhinos, red hartebeests, blesboks and steppe zebras.
Colesberg, South Africa
Colesberg is situated in the Karoo, half way between Johannesburg and Cape Town on N 1. It is an attractive little place which makes a good stopover on a journey between the two cities. Like the neighboring town of De Aar, Colesberg was originally no more than a railroad junction. It was officially founded in 1829 and named after the then Governor of the colony, Sir Galbraith Lowry Cole.A few buildings survive from Colesberg's early days, including six lovingly restored houses in Bell Street. There is also a fine Dutch Reformed church of 1866.
Kenhardt, South Africa
Kenhardt lies well off the main tourist routes, 141km/88mi south of Upington on a seemingly endless plateau, a barren region suitable only for sheep-farming.The town was founded in the early 19th C, when the governor of the Cape Colony sent a force of 20 soldiers to the area to protect the settlers and the north bank of the Orange River from the native population.
