About 120 kilometers west of Upington, in a landscape full of sand and scrub, the Orange River cuts through solid rock in a dramatic sequence of rapids and cascades. Its rushing waters breach the main gorge and become Augrabies falls, dropping 56 meters before continuing in a tumble of cataracts, to a turbulent rock-enclosed pool. The area surrounding the waterfall has been designated a National Park and includes 15,400 hectares of unique riverine and scrub landscapes.
The area is popular with nature lovers and photographers, and although it is not a ‘Big Five’ park, Springbok, Klipspringer, Eland, Giraffe and Black Rhino can be seen along with many bird species, lizards, the Cape clawless otter and the rock dassie (Hyrax). There are several good hiking trails in the park, the most popular being the three-day/39.5 kilometer Klipspringer Trail, but we had only a day to enjoy the park, so opted for the much shorter (5 kilometer - but still very interesting and varied) Dassie Trail.
The self-guided Dassie Hiking Trail leads you on a circular route starting and ending at the Rest Camp. The trail follows the gorge to Arrow Point, and then heads out into the veld, past the Potholes and Moon rock(the rounded top of a massive bolder), before returning. Along the rock faces dassies and red-tailed lizards are common. While overhead we saw a Verreaux’s (Black) Eagle and several European Bee-eaters.
The trail is worth walking just to experience the varied landscapes, but it is also a great place to experience some of Africa’s smaller creatures. The Augrabies Falls National Park is a wonderful place to have a milder kind of Adventure in Traveling.
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