From Drought to Cascades: Augrabies Falls

May 2, 2015

Augrabies Falls.

It might not be Niagara or Victoria Falls, but as the world's six tallest waterfall, Augrabies Falls is arguably worth a visit. It's in a tough-to-get-to, not-on-the-way-to-anywhere spot, in the armpit of the Northern Cape, which makes it even more appealing to visit when given the chance.  

The falls are formed from the Orange River, a river that snakes its way westward through a large part of South Africa (it is apparently the longest river in the country), before eventually reaching the Atlantic Ocean. The gorge of the falls is over 18 kilometres long, with cliffs over 200 metres high. All this to say, it's not small.

M loves waterfalls, so this cascade was a natural stop for us following our week in the dry and dusty Kgalagadi. We spent the night inside the Augrabies Falls National Park (it's part of SANParks) and did a small hike in the late afternoon to stretch our legs after days and days of safari-sitting.

M leading the way on the Dassie Trail.

Afternoon sun on the rocks.

On a mission: trying to do a three-hour hike in an hour and a half in order to make it back before the sunset.

The main falls (well, mostly the mist of the main falls).

The run-off of the main falls.

It was a quiet day at Augrabies...nice to have the falls (mostly) to ourselves.

The park has recently built upgraded paths and viewing decks after flooding destroyed large portions of the pedestrian access to the falls.

Dassie!

M&I at the falls (that tiny bit of water on my left-hand shoulder is all we could manage to get in the photo).

Setting sun at the falls.

As with most parts of South Africa, where there's water, there are grapes. The Orange River banks are becoming an increasingly popular wine grown/wine tasting region, so it only made sense that we'd taste-test a little along the way...

May is fall (autumn) in South Africa, and the leaves seemed to be changing colour for the occasion.

I'm not sure if these are different types of grapes (or some other fruit all together...let's be honest, my agriculture skills probably require some honing).

The Orange.