INTO THE BIG SKY COUNTRY
Paul Ash discovers the treasures of the Green Kalahari
THE Kalahari Desert is a name that conjures up mysteries. Red sands, sunbaked mountains and forests of quiver trees. Big, blue skies and San hunters and their families wandering towards the beckoning horizons.
Those are good descriptions but they are not the whole truth about this part of the Northern Cape.
Those who live here call it the Green Kalahari, a surprisingly verdant stretch of land which encompasses the farms along the Orange River and reaches up into the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, where lions and cheetahs roam the vastness.
From the air, you can see the bright green discs of farms and the darker green of the vineyards which stretch for hundreds of kilometres along the life-giving river.
The region is one of the country’s unsung attractions. If you like road trips, you’ll love the journey from Kimberley to Upington then down to Augrabies where the Orange plunges with so much drama into the gorge.
It is the river that allows for so much plant and animal diversity in this part of the country, and which has watered the vineyards that have brought a measure of prosperity to the region.
Wine tourism is still new here but it offers an experience that you won’t get in the genteel surroundings of Franschhoek. Start with a tasting session at the Orange River Cellars in Upington and then once you’ve stocked up on some cases — I recommend the crisp, “zesty” Colombard — head west along the river to see the vineyards themselves.
Stop in Keimoes to see the old irrigation waterwheel and marvel at the intricate canals that transformed the desert into a kind of garden of Eden.
Then, keeping the river on your right, head across the baking land to Pofadder and Springbok on roads straighter than arrows. Here you have a choice: if you like mountain deserts and adventure, the Richtersveld awaits; if you want a cool sea breeze on your skin, keep going west. One more mountain pass and you’re at Port Nolloth, which is pretty much as far as you can go.
DETAILS: Orange River Cellars, 158 Schröder St, Upington. Call 054 495 0040. Tasting from R25 for five wines.