Page 371 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - South Africa

THE ARID INTERIOR  369

NORTH OF THE ORANGE

The red dunes of the Kalahari Desert stretch north of the Orange
River like the waves of an inland sea. Three mountain ranges
break the monotony until the dunes give way, at last, to
the grasslands of the Highveld plateau. In this remote
wilderness, oasis-like towns such as Upington welcome the
traveller, and in a narrow band along the river, vineyards
produce sultana grapes and fine wines.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the The discovery of diamonds in 1866
uncharted North ern Cape was home to transformed South Africa’s economy.
the last nomadic hunter-gath erers, the At the town of Kimberley, count less
San. In 1820, Robert and Mary Moffat built fortune-seekers carved out the Big Hole,
a mission and school in Kuruman, 263 km an enormous crater that had yielded a
(163 miles) northeast of Upington, and total of 2,722 kg (5,988 lb) of diamonds
devoted 50 years to translating and by the time work stopped in 1914.
printing the Bible in the Setswana language. Further west along the Orange River, a
The journeys of exploration undertaken by local Griqua leader invited early missionary
their son-in-law, David Livingstone, Reverend Christiaan Schröder to establish
focused European attention on Africa. a mission station on the banks of the river,
In the Cape Colony, Afrikaner farm ers and the town of Upington was founded.
became increasingly discontented with Irrigation canals soon transformed the
the British administration. Many trekked desert into a fertile crescent of vineyards,
north in search of new land. In 1836, a orchards, wheat and lucerne fields.
group of Voortrekkers (see pp54–5) Although mining is still the main
crossed the Orange River and settled contributor to the region’s economy, today
near Thaba Nchu, east of present-day visitors are enticed by the area’s history,
Bloemfontein, where they established desert scenery and diverse wildlife, such
an independent repub lic, the Orange as various raptor species and the unique
Free State, in 1854. Kalahari lion.

Suricates, or slender-tailed meerkats, live in close-knit family groups
The stark outline of a quiver tree, perfectly adapted to arid conditions, in Augrabies Falls National Park

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