There are no curtains on the windows (we generally don’t shut curtains anyway), so we woke to the silhouette of the sun on the mountains and the flora coming alive.
In the succulent Karoo Biome, the flora is rare and unique, being one of only 35 biodiversity hotspots on Earth and one of only two hotspots that are entirely arid. As a boy Gareth loved exploring, I glad to see as a man he has not lost his inquisitive nature and over the last two days has gone on long walks and shown a great fascination in the vegetation, even wondering what he could use in salads.
The fauna in the park includes mainly buck and small mammal species. On today’s drive we saw gemsbok, eland, steenbok, hartebeest, baboons and springbok. We were also fortunate to see one of the genetically mutated brown springbok, the first time I have seen one in the wild. The sighting of the day must go to 3 bat eared foxes.
The park straddles the border of the Northern and Western Provinces with the Roggeveld escarpment to the east, Cederberg to the west and Klein Roggeberg Mountains to the south.
The Park is named after the Tankwa River that runs through it. The meaning of the word is unknown but is believed to be ‘turbid water’, ‘Place of the sun’ or ‘Thirst land’ – all suit the park just fine.
Today’s drive took us through a stark flat area, through Volmoersfontein, which is a camp site (if you consider camping here, ensure you are fully self sufficient). We passed Potkleiberg, a hill that is part part of the Sterretjiesberg, Biesjiesfontein and Prambergfontein – I love the names, that are so apt.
Our destination was Oudebaaskraal Dam, built in 1969 by Judge Alwyn Burger and was the largest privately owned dam in South Africa, until it was taken over by the park in 2007. We were not sure what to expect, being the optimist, I expected some water, the guys teased me and said we were heading for a dry river bed. I won and then some, the ‘big’ dam was a great surprise and as it turns out is the main water provider in this semi desert area. It was also home to an abundant bird life. We had a picnic lunch, identified as many birds as possible and Ga and I walked the dam wall.
Enjoying the scenery and a G & T back at the house, Ga and I thought it would be a good idea to watch the sunset from a view point. We had seen a sign near our cottage indicating such. We thought it would be a quick drive up the hill and Ga considered walking it and Gray considered staying at home. As it was, we all hopped in the car and omg, the new Landy was put through its paces, this turned out to be a major 4 x 4 trail that took us, eventually, to the top of some mountain with the most spectacular view. You felt as if you were on top of the world, Roggeberge crescenting the west and the Cederberg to the east and a moonscape below, it was as if a giant meteorite and hit this area millions of years ago. Well worth the drive up, we now had to descend the rocky trail.
Another evening around the fire and braving the cold to nip out and enjoy the wonder of a trillion stars.
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