National Parks Week: Why you should visit the majestic scenes at Augrabies Falls

The distant roar of the Orange River as it crashes over the Augrabies Waterfall will quickly lull you to sleep after a long hot day in the arid park – and energise you in the morning for the day ahead.

The Augrabies Falls National Park, run by the South African National Parks (SANParks) is situated about 120km west of Upington in the Northern Cape Province.

And for a day trip with free access for South African visitors to the park this week to celebrate SA National Parks Week, Augrabies is closer than one might think. The park is open for free from today, until Friday.

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FNB is now in its 17th year of sponsorship for the week and is joined by Total South Africa, which partners with SANParks on several projects.

A 90-minute flight from Johannesburg is followed by about a 90-minute drive to the park from the Upington International Airport – and breakfast in the park’s restaurant. It sounds like a schlep, but the drive and flight is over quicker than one realises.

On your way to the park, you’ll pass through towns with legendary names, such as Keimoes and Kakamas. You’ll drive through generations-old winelands, with the old wood of the grape vines twisted and gnarled as they suck life from the unforgiving ground.

Some may call the towns desperate, but frozen in time for the most part, there’s also a neversay-die attitude about them and their people.

The Augrabies park is a virtually untouched wilderness as boulders and rocks dominate the scenery. Over millions of years, the Orange River has slowly worn a chasm into the rock – more than 200m deep in some places.

The river is fed by several streams, around which birdlife congregates and – for what is designated an arid park – there is a surprising amount of water.

However, it is the boulder “life” where nature has done its best work, some the size of buildings which are cracked, hewn by wind and rain, and weathered over eons into a landscape that will not change in our lifetime.

SANParks board chair Pam Yako said fees would be relaxed for local visitors.

“The impact [of SA National Parks Week] must be felt across the country,” said Yako, and urged South Africans to visit the national park closest to them this week.

In terms of tourism coming back to life, Yako noted SA was 30% below its 2019 tourism numbers, and was seeing a large increase in domestic tourism, which would develop a sustainable tourism market.

Northern Cape premier Dr Zamani Saul noted the importance of tourism could not be overestimated, contributing about R1.4 billion to the local economy – also down on the numbers pre-pandemic.

“The Northern Cape tourism industry is slowly recovering,” Saul said, urging people to travel within their own country and visit the diverse experiences on their doorsteps.

“Day trips are of increasing importance to the industry.”

Environmental Affairs Minister Barbara Creecy, on her first visit to Augrabies, said it was “overwhelming”, especially comparing the waterfall with the aridness of the rest of the park.

More than 600 000 people have visited the SA national parks during the open week since 2006.

Creecy said Total South Africa supplied fuel for the SANParks Airwing.

More than 3.5 million visitors went to SANParks’ various parks last year, up from the 1.9 million in 2021.

So even if Augrabies is a little far for you, there is probably one near you – and if you’ve never been, now is the time.

The free access to the parks will not include accommodation and commercial activities in the park, such as guided safaris in vehicles or guided walks, etc. Kruger, Addo Elephant, Augrabies, Agulhas, Table Mountain and AiAis Richtersveld Transfrontier Park will only have free access until this Friday.

Namaqua National Park, Boulders Penguin Colony and the Cableway in Table Mountain National Park are not included in the free access.

– amandaw@citizen.co.za