Richtersveld Apr 2012
Posted: 21 Apr 2012 23:26
This trip to the Richtersveld was relatively easy. We had ten tyres on the road with no punctures. Personally, I do not think you need more than one spare tyre per vehicle provided that you look where you drive. We dropped our tyre pressures to 1,5 bar as soon as we left the tar and it proved to work well for us.
The group consisted of 1x Patrol 4500GRX and 1x LR Disco 3 with a medium sized off road trailer. We were quite heavily laden.
Alexander Bay is not particularly exciting. Port Nolloth, Springbok and Kuboes is well worth a visit. We liked Potjiespram more than De Hoop because De Hoop was crowded and did not have much grass. Potjiespram I think is under-estimated because people do no look around properly before they select a camp site. Potjiespram has some very nice camp sites, but you have to look for them. Do not take the first site that presents itself.
I would suggest that you need about fourteen days to explore the National Park and the World Heritage Site properly.
The organisation in both the National Park and the World Heritage Site is somewhat informal, but we had no difficulties.
The corrugations were terrible and some screws, nuts and bolts worked loose and had to be tightened every second day.
All camp sites in the Richtersveld National park were well appointed, except that some had no water.
Baboons and monkeys can present a problem, but we experienced no problems. We saw only one scorpion and one snake in a matter of ten days.
Akkedis Pass presented a few chalenges (nothing a Patrol coud not handle).
Kokerboomkloof was the highlight of the trip and is a must.
The World Heritage Site was a different matter. It was harsh terrain, difficult and slow. There was absolutely no water.
Tierhoek, Fluorspar Valley and Sun Valley was an experience of note. Very, very few people ever go there.
If you see a Halfmens, take a pic, because they are very scarce. We unfortunatelty did not travel through Halfmenspas.
I have a 4500GRX Manual and the fuel consumption overall was 17,7 l/100km. The worst consumption was in Akkedispas at 31l/100km.
I have a 90lt tank and carried an extra 60 lt in jerry cans, but it turned out that it was not necessary. I carried 50lt of water and it proved to be adequate for four people for drinking and cooking purposes whilst in the Richtersveld. We showered were water was available on site. This meant that we could shower eight out of the ten day we were in the Richtersveld.
We even got caught in some light rain whilst in the World Heritage Site. The temperatures averaged between 37 and 43 Degrees C whilst in the Richtersveld (April 2012). The wind was never a problem.
If you travel through the Richtersveld watch out for sharp stones which could damage your side walls. Flash floods are a possibilty, but rare.
The further west you travel form Pretioria, the more expensive the fuel gets.
Do not expect to do any significant shopping in Alexander Bay and Sendeleingsdrif. The shops provide the BARE BASICS. Do your final important shopping in Upington if you come from Pretoria.
The people, especially the Namas were very friendly.
If anybody requires any additional information, please send me a PM and we can arrange a meeting to exchange more information.
Herewith some pics below.
The group consisted of 1x Patrol 4500GRX and 1x LR Disco 3 with a medium sized off road trailer. We were quite heavily laden.
Alexander Bay is not particularly exciting. Port Nolloth, Springbok and Kuboes is well worth a visit. We liked Potjiespram more than De Hoop because De Hoop was crowded and did not have much grass. Potjiespram I think is under-estimated because people do no look around properly before they select a camp site. Potjiespram has some very nice camp sites, but you have to look for them. Do not take the first site that presents itself.
I would suggest that you need about fourteen days to explore the National Park and the World Heritage Site properly.
The organisation in both the National Park and the World Heritage Site is somewhat informal, but we had no difficulties.
The corrugations were terrible and some screws, nuts and bolts worked loose and had to be tightened every second day.
All camp sites in the Richtersveld National park were well appointed, except that some had no water.
Baboons and monkeys can present a problem, but we experienced no problems. We saw only one scorpion and one snake in a matter of ten days.
Akkedis Pass presented a few chalenges (nothing a Patrol coud not handle).
Kokerboomkloof was the highlight of the trip and is a must.
The World Heritage Site was a different matter. It was harsh terrain, difficult and slow. There was absolutely no water.
Tierhoek, Fluorspar Valley and Sun Valley was an experience of note. Very, very few people ever go there.
If you see a Halfmens, take a pic, because they are very scarce. We unfortunatelty did not travel through Halfmenspas.
I have a 4500GRX Manual and the fuel consumption overall was 17,7 l/100km. The worst consumption was in Akkedispas at 31l/100km.
I have a 90lt tank and carried an extra 60 lt in jerry cans, but it turned out that it was not necessary. I carried 50lt of water and it proved to be adequate for four people for drinking and cooking purposes whilst in the Richtersveld. We showered were water was available on site. This meant that we could shower eight out of the ten day we were in the Richtersveld.
We even got caught in some light rain whilst in the World Heritage Site. The temperatures averaged between 37 and 43 Degrees C whilst in the Richtersveld (April 2012). The wind was never a problem.
If you travel through the Richtersveld watch out for sharp stones which could damage your side walls. Flash floods are a possibilty, but rare.
The further west you travel form Pretioria, the more expensive the fuel gets.
Do not expect to do any significant shopping in Alexander Bay and Sendeleingsdrif. The shops provide the BARE BASICS. Do your final important shopping in Upington if you come from Pretoria.
The people, especially the Namas were very friendly.
If anybody requires any additional information, please send me a PM and we can arrange a meeting to exchange more information.
Herewith some pics below.
- Typical Richtersveld scene
- IMG_4157.jpg (54.29 KiB) Viewed 2785 times
- Kokerboomkloof at sunrise (by Melissa Jordaan (15))
- DSC_0820 (149).jpg (304.91 KiB) Viewed 2785 times
- Richtersveld World Heritage Site
- _MG_4302.jpg (335.09 KiB) Viewed 2785 times
- Rainbow at Sunvalley in the World Heritage Site
- _MG_4287.jpg (295.22 KiB) Viewed 2785 times
- Deep in the World Heritage Site
- _MG_4298.jpg (326.93 KiB) Viewed 2785 times
- My son Ben at a typical wreck not far from Eksteenfontein
- _MG_4245.jpg (326.11 KiB) Viewed 2785 times
- A typical mountain scenery in the Richtersveld
- _MG_4243ed.jpg (343 KiB) Viewed 2785 times
- Testing the suspension a tiny bit.
- _MG_4178.jpg (306.3 KiB) Viewed 2785 times
- A Kokerboom
- _MG_4172.jpg (208.58 KiB) Viewed 2785 times
- Running in a flood plain
- _MG_4163.jpg (301.8 KiB) Viewed 2785 times
- On the way to De Hoop
- _MG_4005.jpg (236.28 KiB) Viewed 2785 times
- A little obstacle
- _MG_3986.jpg (239.99 KiB) Viewed 2785 times
- The beech at Alexander Bay near the Orange River Mouth
- _MG_3891.jpg (203.2 KiB) Viewed 2785 times
- This pic was taken in pitch darkness.
- _MG_4104.jpg (229.19 KiB) Viewed 2785 times
