The further away a place is from people, the more afraid people are to go there. Remote places like the Richtersveld are seen as too rugged for some. I find that interesting, because isn’t it people who cause other people the most harm?
The Richtersveld is a semi-desert in places, full-on desert in others. There are empty plains where nothing moves and there’s no sound. Like when the earth first started to turn.
It’s that silence that makes the Richtersveld so special. There are few other places where you, the rocks, and the creatures among them, are on equal footing under the sun. But even though you’re small in this landscape, you have nothing to fear. I promise. Come, let me show you.
HISTORY
On the South African side, an agreement was signed in 1991 between the Richtersveld community and what was the National Parks Board, to turn the area into a national park. In Namibia, the first part of the Ai-Ais Hot Springs Game Park had been proclaimed in 1968.
A transfrontier park, linking the wilderness on both sides of the Orange, was first discussed in 2000. Three years later, presidents Thabo Mbeki and Sam Nujoma signed the international treaty for the establishment of the |Ai-|Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park.
The park’s management plan includes protecting the local Nama people’s traditional lifestyle and culture. Nama farmers are allowed to trek around the park with their livestock in search of grazing. Numbers are limited to 6600 animals.
INSIDE THE PARK
See all the highlights
The |Ai-|Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park is a great destination if you want to explore the general region for the first time. Most of the park is on the Namibian side of), with 1625km on the South African side.
