The Kalahari is at the far north-eastern tip of the province and borders Namibia and Botswana. The name Kalahari come from the San word meaning a place without water. Parts of the Kalahari Desert are flat featureless plains, that go without rain for months. But in most areas there is water beneath the surface. The daytime temperatures are extremely hot and the nights can be freezing cold. South Africa's longest River threads through the area like an oasis.
The town is situated on the
N14 highway from Johannesburg to the Kalahari and Namaqualand. The town
is a green oasis on the banks of the Orange River, and the land on
either side of the river both downstream and upstream from Upington for
two or three hundred kilometers is green with vineyards and fruit
farms, irrigated from the river. It can get extremely hot in this area from January to February. The best time to travel here, is the local winter.
Legend has it that grazing in the vicinity was poor and, when cattle were driven through the river’s drifts, some turned on their drivers. Today, the name reflects poorly on a fertile valley in the Lower Orange River, graced with vineyards, cotton and lucerne fields.
The drought of 1895-97 was followed by an outbreak of rinderpest, leaving many farmers destitute. Knysna’s Dutch Reformed Church minister, BPJ Marchand, sometimes called the father of Kakamas, played a leading role in saving people from ruin. The river islands of Marchand, Zoetap and Neus became a labour colony for the poor.
So successful were their farming ventures that full title to the land was granted them. In 1930, the church divided an area in central Kakamas into 40 residential plots.This was the beginning of Kakamas township. Cultivating grapes for raisins began in 1960 and table grapes in 1980. Today, they are exported worldwide.
120 kilometres to the west of Upington lies the peaceful little village of Augrabies, named after the nearby spectacular Augrabies Falls, where the Orange River plunges some 200 metres in spectacular fashion after cutting through a nine kilometer long granite gorge. The Augrabies Falls are the most stunning falls on the Orange River. There are several other falls at Augrabies, one where the water submerges underground to emerge from a sheer cliff wall as the Bridal Falls.
The Augrabies Falls lie in the 28000 hectare Augrabies Falls National Park, ith a wide range of game like Springbok, Eland, Giraffe and Black Rhino.
The origin of the town’s name Kuruman is uncertain but it is generally accepted as being a variation of the name of an 18th-century San leader, Kudumane.
Known as the Oasis of the Kalahari, Kuruman is blessed with a permanent and abundant source of water. More densely vegetated than most oases, its water flows from "the Eye". A spring delivering 20 million litres of water daily, the water flows from solution cavities in the dolomitic Plateau and cracks in the mammoth doleritic dykes and sills that thrust their way into prominence from the earth’s core some 190 million years ago.
Scottish missionary Robert Moffat, the first person to translate the Bible into seTswana, lived here for 50 years (1820 - 1870) and built the famous Moffat Church, completed in 1838.
The Moffats baptised their first converts in 1829, taught them to read, and, using their own printing press, printed the first Bible in Africa. Regular services are still conducted in their church.
Kalahari Gemsbok National Park was proclaimed in 1931 to protect
migratory game. In 1999 it was merged with the adjacent Gemsbok
National Park in Botswana to form the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.
The red sand dunes and sparse vegetation makes it possible to see antelope and predators at a premium.
In
summer, day temperatures may exceed 40°C. Winter days are sunny with
night temperatures often below zero. Visitors should anticipate extreme
heat during the day and extreme cold during winter nights.
Park Accommodation Kgalagadi
has three traditional rest camps with basic shopping facilities and
fuel. The three wilderness camps have no fences and you are lirerally
amongst the lions.
Traditional Rest Camps Twee Rivieren Mata Mata Nossob
Daniëlskuil lies at the foot of the Kuruman Hills, 90km south of Kuruman. Tswana occupied the land on which it is built before it became home to the Griqua. Passing through in 1816, missionary James Read named the place ‘Fraaifontein’.
In a land of contrasts, through arid hills and plains, twists a green ribbon, bringing life and prosperity. At the gateway to the Green Kalahari you will find the village of Groblershoop. In building his historic water turbine in the Orange River on his farm Winstead in 1913, Charles Newberry certainly showed his determination. The cement used in the construction of the weir and turbine was shipped in barrels from France. Entering the country through Algoa Bay, it was transported to the site by donkey cart. On the same farm seven graves tell the story of battles fought near by during the Rebellion in 1914.
The town is situated on the
N14 highway from Johannesburg to the Kalahari and Namaqualand. The town
is a green oasis on the banks of the Orange River, and the land on
either side of the river both downstream and upstream from Upington for
two or three hundred kilometers is green with vineyards and fruit
farms, irrigated from the river. It can get extremely hot in this area from January to February. The best time to travel here, is the local winter. 
120 kilometres to the west of Upington lies the peaceful little village of Augrabies, named after the nearby spectacular Augrabies Falls, where the Orange River plunges some 200 metres in spectacular fashion after cutting through a nine kilometer long granite gorge. The Augrabies Falls are the most stunning falls on the Orange River. There are several other falls at Augrabies, one where the water submerges underground to emerge from a sheer cliff wall as the Bridal Falls.
