This is part of a series of posts following the LookSouth Road Trip from September 2023. Click here to read Part 1.
Springbok to Magersfontein is a long haul, with mostly arid vegetation along the way. Nevertheless, we found it very interesting.
Alongside the road there was an abundance of the Social Weaver’s large, community nests. These nests are considered the most spectacular and rare structures built by any bird.
Every town we passed through we researched its history. Pofadder is one of South Africa’s most isolated little towns, surrounded by the rugged Namaqualand landscape. It was not named after the snake ‘puffadder’, but rather after a Koranna chief from the area by the same name.
Then came Kakamas, a town founded in 1898 on the banks of the Orange River. The name originates from the Khoi word, ‘gagamas’ (brown), referring to the red clay of the area with which women smear their faces. Nearby Upington is the commercial, educational and social centre of the Green Kalahari, owing its prosperity to agriculture and its irrigated lands along the Orange River. In 1884 Upington was named after Sir Thomas Upington, Attorney-General and then Prime Minister of the Cape.
Finally we reached Magersfontein in the Northern Cape – situated near the ‘diamond town’ of Kimberley.
The area is primarily known for the Battle of Magersfontein, which was fought between the British and the Boers in 1899. However, it is also known (particularly amongst keen golfers) for its world-class golf course, which was built according to USGA standards in 2007. It was certainly an interesting golf course – an oasis in this countryside.
