Namaqua National Park

Namaqua National Park in South Africa lies around 495km north of Cape Town and 22km north west of Kamieskroon. The park covers an area of more than 700km2 and is a part of Namaqualand, a region that covers some 55.000km2 and is part of the semi deserts of the Succulent Karoo biome. This biome has one of the highest diversities of plant life in the world.

The park was established to protect the regions flowers and plants. During the spring there is a bloom of wildflowers of spectacular proportions. This riot of colourful wild flowers is by far the park’s biggest tourist attraction. There are more than 5,000 species of plants growing as part of the park’s ecosystem, including more than one third of all the succulent plant species in the world.   No matter how lovely, and numerous, the park’s flowers cooer, it is illegal to pick them. If you choose to ignore this rule, you will be given a fine by the park’s rangers.

Namaqua National Park lies in Northern Cape Province near South Africa’s border with Namibia. The semi-desert climate here means that the park has hot, dry summers and cooler winters with little rainfall.  Most of the annual rainfall normally falls between May and August. The eastern part of the park receives more rainfall than the western part.

It is estimated that around 100,000 tourists visit Namaqualand every year. Namaqua National Park is the biggest ecological tourist attraction here, particularly the bloom of spring flowers in the abandoned wheat fields. Tourist facilities in the park include a 5km long tour through the most beautiful part of the park, two walking routes through the parks nature and a number of good picnic sites.