Natural

Augrabies flat lizards

Even if you’re not into reptiles, you’ll find the Augrabies flat lizard quite fascinating. The advantage is they’re easy to see, and live in a startlingly beautiful place. more
Emmarentia Dam, Johannesburg

Emmarentia Dam is where you can watch an open-air music concert, paddle around in a canoe, try your hand at sailing, or simply have a peaceful stroll along the banks. more
Thonga Beach Lodge, KwaZulu-Natal

Thonga Beach Lodge is close to Mabibi, part of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. It is a place that thrums with birdlife, marine life and fascinating mammals. more
Rocktail Beach Camp, KwaZulu-Natal

Set back from deserted golden beaches in a coastal forest, Rocktail Beach Camp has a well-deserved reputation as one of the South Africa’s loveliest beach escapes. more

More about Natural

Modderfontein Nature Reserve, Gauteng

The Modderfontein Nature Reserve – once the hub of a dynamite factory – is Gauteng’s second-largest private reserve with open grasslands, hills and small dams brimming with water birds. more

Great trees of South Africa

Discover the great trees of South Africa as you travel, from the mighty baobabs in the north, to the giant yellowwoods in the south. more

Leliefontein to Kleinzee – the 'shipwreck and daisies route'

Pack the picnic bag, haul out the roadmap and GPS, and hit the back roads of Namaqualand for a taste of local flavours and photogenic landscapes. more

Natural attractions in the Northern Cape

1Namaqua National Park

This biodiversity hotspot is renowned the world over for its unique vegetation. A major highlight of any visit to the Northern Cape is to witness the carpets of wild flowers that ‘appear’ after the first spring rains.

2Augrabies Falls

Known by the local San people as ‘the place of great noise’ the Augrabies Falls (situated in the Augrabies Falls National Park) thunders down 240 metres and is South Africa’s answer to the Niagara Falls

3Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

This groundbreaking transfrontier park is renowned as Africa’s first formally declared trans-border conservation area. Situated between South Africa and Botswana, this extraordinary wild area covers over 3.7 million hectares.

4Ais Ais Richtersveld National Park

It’s all lunar landscapes and spectacular arid beauty. The Ais Ais Richtersveld National Park is known as a unique mountain desert and as a result boasts a wealth of distinctive plant life found nowhere else in the country

5Goegap Nature Reserve

This magnificent nature reserve is home to 600 indigenous plant species, 94 bird species and 45 mammal species over 7000 hectares of pristine wilderness

6Witsand

Few eco-destinations in the Northern Cape are as scenic as Witsand Nature reserve teeming with bird life, surrounded by 20 to 60 metre high dunes, acacia woodlands and the Langberg Mountain range

7Riemvasmaak

Riemvasmaak is situated to the north of Augrabies Falls and is a spectacular wild mountain desert wilderness that covers a vast area of over 75 000 hectares

8Wonderwerk Cave

A National Heritage Site, the Wonderwerk Cave is 139 metres deep and archaeological digs have revealed that it has been inhabited for longer than almost any other place on Earth.

9Kuruman

Known as the ‘Oasis of the Kalahari’, Kuruman is home to ‘The Eye’ – a large fresh water fountain that bubbles up from deep underground.

10Spitskop Nature Reserve

A small reserve to the north of Upington, Spitskop Nature Reserve is home to zebra, springbok, ostrich, eland and mountain zebra. The reserve gets its name from the odd-shaped rocky hill near its entrance.