I’d never been to Tankwa Karoo National Park before, a piece of majestic land kept secret from the world it seemed. And if I were completely selfish I’d keep it that way. But this haven is too precious not to share.
My friend Hannelie and I stepped out of the office on Friday afternoon (after celebrating her birthday lunch). We hit the gravel road just outside Ceres, with a 180-km stretch towards Platfontein Farm, where we stayed (in the rangers house) – Hannelie is an Honorary Ranger within the region, so I was lucky enough to share the experience with a very knowledgeable guide.
The dusty road ran through the Karoo, an expansive piece of heaven, but what I didn’t know at that point was about a secret world of blooms that lay hidden near Varschfontein, which we’d explore the next day.
It wasn’t too dark by the time we arrived, but the first task was to light the “˜donkey’, so that we had hot water the next morning and to my surprise we did! Han is a nab hand with a match and few pieces of wood. She lit a fire inside the house too, and we enjoyed some girly chatter into the night, over red wine, candle light and a reliable old mug of hot chicken noodle soup, which saved us having to cook. The sky was filled with glittery stars that night, blinking up high above a Karoo so silent and black.
We wanted to see the sunrise, so we set out fairly early the next morning, which was also Hannelie’s actual birthday. She was up before me and prepared a chicken and vegetable stew in the slow cooker she’d packed; so that hot food would be ready for us that night. The wine was already in the fridge (a feisty bottle of Joostenberg).
We drove towards the sun as it raised its glistening glow above the mountains and painted a perfect picture for us to relish. It didn’t take long before the 3.5 °C of the morning turned to a glorious 13 °C. We head towards Varschfontein, spotting a team of springbok along the way.
The flowers were scattered haphazardly in abundance. Yellow tapestries stretched out further than the eye could see, wrapped by a backdrop of mountains. In between were spots of purple. But we had to climb out of our bakkie to see the true gems. They were so delicate, perfect subject matter for a camera lens and enthusiastic photographer. We spent hours snapping away at the array of confetti that scattered the sides of the road. We were also treated to sightings of gemsbok and grysbok (and many many birds) – notably the white-breasted cormorant, jackal buzzard and Karoo robin, but I’m not an expert and wish I could tell you more.
We got back to the house in time for a very late lunch – gourmet sarmies were the extent of my culinary skills, with a touch of bubbly for the birthday girl and we sat out on the stoep overlooking the mountainous view; followed by a late afternoon snooze; all that fresh air clearly taking its toll on two city girls, and I lay out in the sunshine with a book but promptly nodded off to the sounds of chirps and tweets (the feathery kind as there was no mobile phone signal there!).
We took a sunset walk that night, wishing that an aardvark or porcupine might appear, but we weren’t so lucky – although we must have come close as we passed a neat, mysterious and freshly dug burrow.
The world is a small place, we were joined by Scott Ramsay of Year in the Wild that night and learned more about his dream while we shared Hannelie’s delicious stew and rice.
Scott headed off early for Springbok the next day, while we made sarmies with intent to picnic and visit Oudebaskraal dam for lunch. The dam was a very unusual site – overflowing, while we tucked into our egg mayo sarmies and sipped on a flask of tea, trying to escape the crisp icy air – the evidence of snow capping the mountain peaks far into the distance.
Tankwa is truly magical, a mix of light and shade. A photographer/nature lovers delight – a real treat. My heart sank somewhat as our trip came to a close and we drew closer to Cape Town, I’d loved to have stayed longer, to forget the hectic stressy life that modern living imposes so involuntarily.
Tankwa leaves me sitting here gazing out of the office window this Monday afternoon, wishing to escape, to a place that is so new to me, yet so entrenched, so magnificent and so within reach.
Find a place in or around Tankwa to suit your type of visit.
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