Witsand Nature Reserve in the Northern Cape

The recent heavy rainfall led to a desert in bloom. What a privilege to be there and experience

Sula´s lesson for the day, mapping apps are not always your best friend. The scouting motto to ´Be Prepared´ is all encompassing and should be borne in mind when traveling. Getting directions to remote destinations before heading off is highly advisable, once youŕe on a bad road you may not have phone signal to remedy wrong turns. Our first attempt to visit Witsand Nature reserve was thwarted by flooded and impassable roads. With proper directions we got there with comfort and ease on the homeward trip, using completely different roads to those previously chosen by my unfriendly map app.

Our beautiful accommodation at Witsand Nature Reserve. The dominant tree sheltered with the spirit of ancient matriarch. The children were fascinated to find bats roosting in the thatch of their room.

After spending a few days at Augrabies National Park, we were struck by the contrast between National Parks and Witsand Nature Reserve run by Northern Cape Nature. Value for money and quality of service and accommodation weighed heavily in favour of Witsand.

Little green butterfly sailboats in the ocean of desert sands
more butterflies flocking to the mineral rich post rain mud
The striking contrast of white dunes against red sands in the green Kalahari
You can’t go far in Witsand without meeting a tortoise on your way
The juxtaposition of dunes and desertscape put Witsand in a geological class of it’s own
Not a great pic of the parabuthus transvaalicus but he was moving at high speed in what must have been hunting mode, we spotted him by torch light. These guys can be deadly
You can hire boards from reception to try out dune surfing

We were a bit daft, despite being at Witsand at the right time of year to experience the ´roaring´ sands we did not go to the right spot and only figured out where we should have tried upon checking out. Thereś always next time, which hopefully will be soon but the roaring is best heard in months with the letter ŕ´ in them.

At the end of the day, there’s no place like Africa

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