This is part of a series of posts following the LookSouth Road Trip from September 2023. Click here to read Part 1.
Our visit to Springbok, nearby towns like Okiep and Kleinzee, and the Goegap Nature Reserve, far exceeded our expectations.
Springbok is the largest town in the Namaqualand area in the Northern Cape, connecting the Cape with Namibia. It
lies at an elevation of 1007 metres in a narrow valley between the high granite domes of the Klein Koperberge (Small Copper Mountains).
Early settlement was a major commercial centre for copper mining operations, particularly in
Okiep where rich copper deposits were discovered. This often arid area is home to seasonal vegetation and drought resistant succulents like the kokerboom. What would generally be an unfavourable environment for vegetation, this area experiences high floral diversity where half of the plant species are found nowhere else in the world.
When the winter rain falls, the Goegap Nature Reserve, home to the Hester Malan Wild Flower Garden, with outcrops of granite is covered in spring flowers like irises and orchids. And one can’t miss the Quiver tree whose branches were used by San people to hold their arrows. It is also the home of several mammalian species like the endangered Hautman’s Mountain Zebra Springbok, Gemsbok and Aardwolf. An absolute must see.
Okiep
In the 1870s Okiep was ranked as having the richest copper mine in the world.
The town is on the site of a spring that was known in the Khoekhoe language of the Nama people as
U-gieb (large brackish place).
Port Nolloth
Early settlers in the Cape Colony heard rumours of mountains in the north-west that were fabulously rich in copper. Governor Simon van der Stel was inclined to believe these tales when, in 1681, a group of Namas visited the Castle in Cape Town and brought along some pure copper.
Van der Stel led an expedition in 1685 and reached the fabled mountains. Three shafts were sunk and revealed a rich load of copper ore – the shafts exist to this day.
Okiep – like the whole of Namaqualand – is very rich in blossoming wildflowers.
Click here to continue reading Part 7 of the story