Birthday Road Trip
Early one morning in August 2021, we packed up our 2007 short wheel base 4 x 4 Pajero (adventurously named Mitzi) and headed for Kimberley in the Northern Cape. There we were going to meet up with our friends James and Ursula for a 3 week adventure. We were all 1961 babies and the 60 year mark needed to be celebrated somehow.
What better way than with a road trip! (You can read about another, much shorter, road trip here!)
The Northern Cape is a stunningly stark yet beautiful part of South Africa. It’s vast and sparsely populated but full of little gems of interest and wonder.
One of those gems is not so little!
The world famous “Big Hole” dominates the city of Kimberley, the capital city of the Northern Cape.
Pictures actually can’t do justice to the size of the hole! Amazingly it was dug by hand by diamond prospectors between 1871 and 1914. In metric terms, think about 463 meters wide and 246 meters deep!!
Standing on the edge of the hole, one can only wonder at human ingenuity. Look at the hole, imagine a spade in your hands, and be amazed.
The museum and diamonds on display are worth a visit as well. However, if time is short, then the Big Hole itself is the undoubted star attraction.
There is of course a heap of other stuff going on in Kimberley. However after a 700km + drive, we were glad to meet up, visit the Big Hole, grab a beer and some dinner and retire for a well-earned rest.
On the Road to Augrabies Falls
Next morning we were up and on the road fairly early as we had a way to go!
The Orange River rises in the land locked country of Lesotho and flows west for about 2200 km to meet the Atlantic Ocean at Alexander Bay.
Along the way it supplies water to otherwise very arid areas. And as we know, where there is water, surprising things can grow and flourish.
Between Kimberley and Augrabies falls, just off the N14 we found one of those (smaller) Northern Cape gems.
Bezalel Wine & Brandy Estate. A Northern Cape Gem
The name Bezalel has its origins in the bible and there is an interesting story associated with the naming of this farm and wine estate (which you will hear when you visit it for some wine and brandy tasting!)
Suffice to say, this was perhaps the most informative wine tasting session we have ever attended.
And we have been to a few! And in various parts of the world other than South Africa. Think Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Switzerland and even the UK.
We had a thoroughly enjoyable, although sadly shortish, stop at Bezalel. But this was a road trip and we had 520 km odd to cover in the day, so after lunch it was back on the road.
Augrabies Falls
Like the big hole in Kimberley, photos just don’t do justice to Augrabies falls. The vertical drop may only be about 56m but the sheer scale and complexity of what Mother Nature has created here is amazing.
The water level was fairly low when we visited but come summertime the platform in the pic above was getting its feet wet as the might of the Orange River in flood surged through the complex.
You can see a YouTube video of what that looks like HERE
We got to Augrabies Falls National Park (which is run by SANParks) mid afternoon and enjoyed a snack before heading back to our accommodation just above the falls.
An evening braai (or barbeque for the uninitiated – although in reality a barbeque is different and no where near as good!) and a few glasses of Bezalal’s produce rounded off a wonderful day.
We were up fairly early the next morning and on the road heading for Vioolsdrif and a paddle down the Orange River.
But that’s another story.
