From Kanoneiland we continued to Kakamas and Augrabies Falls. A trend we saw in Kanoneiland and we continued to see all the way up to Augrabies was the vast expanse of vineyards. It was quite amazing to drive through semi desert landscapes with nothing more than red soil and rock and see vineyards everywhere. Along the Orange River (Upington and Kanoneiland) where there is plenty of water, it kinda makes sense, but even closer to Augrabies where the landscape imitates the moon, it’s amazing to see how every square centimetre that can be farmed is farmed. We learned later that besides the wine industry, there is also a big market for table grapes and citrus. We could see the unprotected vineyards (which we presumed were for the wine industry), but also km’s and km’s of under cover farmlands (citrus trees and table grapes.)
Arriving at Augrabies National Park, we got some information, booked a camping spot and took a walk to the falls. Compared to images of the falls overflowing, the water was pretty low. We were lucky enough to see a Flat Augrabies Lizard with its pretty rainbow colours. Due to Covid 19, all viewing platforms were restricted to a limited number of people and everyone had to wear masks. We had seen the falls about 30 years ago and we must admit: perfect conditions and excellent maintenance of the facilities and walking paths.
After viewing the falls we took a drive into the National Park. Although we aimed for the Quiver Loop at the far end of the park, after two – three hours we realised that we would never make it in time. Unfortunately (or fortunately) our truck goes pretty slow over corrugated gravel road: slow on going, great for watching!
The landscape is just awesome in its rawness. The only wildlife we saw were a few elusive springboks and a small herd of giraffes.
We arrived in camp in time to enjoy a glass of wine with the backdrop of a glorious sunset over the bush.
Enjoy the video
Top video is from when we were there: low water levels.
A few months later the Augrabies falls looked like this.
Video courtesy of The Barefoot Guide
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Augrabies Falls