Augrabies Falls
The Orange River Drops Fifty Six Metres Off A Granite Lip Into A Gorge Eighteen Kilometres Long And Up To Two Hundred And Forty Metres Deep The Khoi Called It The Place Of Great Noise, And In Flood It Is Audible From Well Outside The Park, With Viewing Platforms Along The Rim And A Dry Northern Cape Landscape Of Quiver Trees Around It · Augrabies, Northern Cape
The Orange River collects water from most of the interior of South Africa and then, a hundred and twenty kilometres west of Upington, runs off a granite lip and drops fifty-six metres into a gorge. The Khoi called the place Aukoerebis, the place of great noise, and in flood you can hear it from outside the park. The gorge below runs for eighteen kilometres and is up to two hundred and forty metres deep - bare polished granite with the river at the bottom of it - and there are viewing platforms along the rim, boardwalked where the rock is dangerous. That qualifier matters: people have died here, the granite above the falls is lethally slippery when wet, and the platforms exist for a reason rather than for convenience. Around the park is hard dry Northern Cape country with quiver trees, klipspringer on the rocks and some of the darkest skies anywhere. It is malaria-free and very hot in summer.
On the Orange River 120 km west of Upington, where the river drops into an eighteen-kilometre granite gorge, Augrabies, Northern Cape, South Africa
The Augrabies Falls National Park keeps daylight hours with a SANParks conservation fee, and the main viewpoints are reached by boardwalk and made path from the rest camp - a few hundred metres, which is why this is one of the more accessible waterfalls in the country. THE PLATFORMS AND RAILINGS EXIST BECAUSE PEOPLE HAVE DIED ON THE ROCK ABOVE THE FALLS, which is polished granite and lethally slippery when wet, so do not climb out past them. The flow varies enormously with the season and with releases upstream; the falls are at their most spectacular in late summer and can be modest in a dry winter. There is a rest camp with chalets, a campsite, a pool and a restaurant inside the park. Longer gorge trails and the Klipspringer hiking trail are seasonal and need booking. Upington is 120 km east with the nearest airport.