Go Drive & Camp May 2019

http://www.weg.c o.za go! Drive&CampMay2019|^47

S

outh Africa’slongest riverhas many

names because it winds itswaythrough

manyregions and visits manycultures.

At its source in Lesotho, its name is the

Senqu, it then becomes the IGqili in the Eastern

Cape, afterwhichitiscommonlycalledthe

Orange. And here in the Richtersveldwhere its

greatwaters flowinto the Atlantic Ocean, the

Nama people call it the Gariep.When in Rome

and all that, so for this story,we’ll sticktothe

ancient Nama name.

TheGariep Riverforms the northern boundary

of the Richtersveld,to the west lies the sea,to

the east is the N7 highway,andthe region’s

southern border is the R382 regionalroadbetween

Port Nolloth and Steinkopf. It takes one dayto

travel here from CapeTownon the N7, and from

Gauteng on the N14 highway,it’stwofulldays.

But no matterwhereyoucome from,you’ll

first haveto stopat Springbok in northern

Namaqualand.Pausehere for fresh bread and

other supplies–Namaqualand is famous for its

mutton–and fill up with fuel before tackling the

final stretchtothenorth. >