Pofadder | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 29°7′43″S19°23′41″E / 29.12861°S 19.39472°E | |
Country | South Africa |
Province | Northern Cape |
District | Namakwa |
Municipality | Khâi-Ma |
Area | |
• Total | 162.09 km2 (62.58 sq mi) |
Elevation | 992 m (3,255 ft) |
Population (2011) [1] | |
• Total | 3,287 |
• Density | 20/km2 (53/sq mi) |
Racial makeup (2011) | |
• Black African | 3.7% |
• Coloured | 89.8% |
• Indian/Asian | 0.5% |
• White | 5.4% |
• Other | 0.6% |
First languages (2011) | |
• Afrikaans | 95.2% |
• Xhosa | 1.0% |
• English | 1.0% |
• Other | 2.8% |
Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
Postal code (street) | 8890 |
PO box | 8890 |
Area code | 054 |
Name pronunciation |
Pofadder (Afrikaans for "puff adder") is a minuscule town in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. In spite of its small size, it is an important local centre in the region known in South Africa as Bushmanland. The surrounding districts are arid, sparsely populated, rugged and picturesque. There is little in the way of cropping and local farmers run sheep or goats for a living. As a tourist destination, it is not sufficiently spectacular to rival the spring flowers of the coastal regions of Namaqualand, but it has its attractions for biologists and conservationists and those with an interest in its remarkable diversity of often-tiny xerophytes and animal life. In recent years, the town economy has been boosted by the construction and operation of solar power stations.
Some claim that Pofadder was named after Klaas Pofadder, a koranna (Koi-Koi) “Hoofman” of the area. Others maintain that this is an exercise in latter-day political correctness and that no record exists to prove that the village was not named after the venomous snake that is common enough in the district.
The settlement is situated on the N14 national road from Upington to Springbok and lies 50 km from the Onseepkans border post on the Namibian border, along the R358. Pofadder is near to the Ritchie Falls, the second highest waterfall on the Orange River, after the Augrabies Falls. Ritchie Falls are in a pristine wilderness area, only accessible after a two-day hike or by rafting down from Onseepkans. Guided hikes and rafting trips are available.
Like Kalamazoo and Timbuktu, the name "Pofadder" is used to represent somewhere very remote, far away and out of the mainstream of the world. [2] This usage is most common in South Africa, while Timbuktu is used in most of the Commonwealth for this purpose and Kalamazoo in the United States. Putsonderwater is used in a similar way. [3]
Table Mountain is a flat-topped mountain forming a prominent landmark overlooking the city of Cape Town in South Africa. It is a significant tourist attraction, with many visitors using the cableway or hiking to the top. Table Mountain National Park is the most visited national park in South Africa, attracting 4.2 million people every year for various activities. The mountain has 8,200 plant species, of which around 80% are fynbos, meaning fine bush. It forms part of the Table Mountain National Park, and part of the lands formerly ranged by Khoe-speaking clans, such as the !Uriǁʼaes. It is home to a large array of mostly endemic fauna and flora.
Victoria Falls is a waterfall on the Zambezi River in southern Africa, which provides habitat for several unique species of plants and animals. It is located on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe and is one of the world's largest waterfalls, with a width of 1,708 m (5,604 ft).
The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and an international park shared with Botswana. It also includes the Augrabies Falls and the diamond mining regions in Kimberley and Alexander Bay.
The Cederberg mountains are located near Clanwilliam, approximately 300 km north of Cape Town, South Africa at about 32°30′S19°0′E. The mountain range is named after the endangered Clanwilliam cedar, which is a tree endemic to the area. The mountains are noted for dramatic rock formations and San rock art. The Cederberg Wilderness Area is administered by CapeNature.
Namaqualand is an arid region of Namibia and South Africa, extending along the west coast over 1,000 km (600 mi) and covering a total area of 440,000 km2 (170,000 sq mi). It is divided by the lower course of the Orange River into two portions – Little Namaqualand to the south and Great Namaqualand to the north.
Mokopane, also known as Potgietersrus, is a town in the Limpopo province of South Africa.
Tzaneen is a large tropical garden town situated in the Mopani District Municipality of the Limpopo province in South Africa. It is situated in a high rainfall fertile region with tropical and subtropical agriculture taking place in a 20,000 square kilometres (7,700 sq mi) region. It is Limpopo's second largest town after Polokwane.
Victoria Falls, popularly known as Vic Falls, is a resort town and city in the province of Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe. It lies on the southern bank of the Zambezi River at the western end of Victoria Falls themselves. According to the 2022 Population Census, the town had a population of 35,199.
The R358 is a Regional Route in South Africa that connects the N7 north of Bitterfontein with the Namibian border at Onseepkans via Pofadder.
Aloidendron dichotomum, formerly Aloe dichotoma, the quiver tree or kokerboom, is a tall, branching species of succulent plant, indigenous to Southern Africa, specifically in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, and parts of Southern Namibia.
The Langeberg Range is a mountain range in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Its highest peak is Keeromsberg at 2,075 m that lies 15 km northeast of the town of Worcester. Some of the highest peaks of the range are located just to the north of Swellendam, in a subrange known as the Clock Peaks whose highest point is the 1,710 m high Misty Point. Local lore states one can tell the time by means of the shadows cast by the seven summits of the Clock Peaks.
Augrabies Falls National Park is a national park located around the Augrabies Falls, about 120 km west of Upington in the Northern Cape Province, South Africa.
Lake Mahinapua is a shallow lake on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. Once a lagoon at the mouth of the Hokitika River, it became a lake when the river shifted its course. Lake Māhinapua was the site of a significant battle between Ngāi Tahu and Ngāti Wairangi Māori, and is regarded by them as a sacred site where swimming and fishing are prohibited. In European times it was part of an inland waterway that carried timber and settlers between Hokitika and Ross until the building of the railway. Today it is protected as a scenic reserve for boating, camping, and hiking.
Butterworth, also known as Gcuwa, is a town in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Butterworth has a population of 45,900 and is situated on the N2 national highway 111 km north of East London.
Onseepkans is a small settlement on the banks of the Orange River in Northern Cape Province, South Africa. It is a border post with Namibia for traffic between Pofadder in South Africa and Keetmanshoop in Namibia. The name either originated from a combination of three Nama words: ‘tconsiep’, ‘nias’, and ‘tcaans’ (thorntrees), or a derivative of a nama word that means 'watering place for cattle'.
The Cairo–Cape Town Highway is Trans-African Highway 4 in the transcontinental road network being developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the African Development Bank (AfDB), and the African Union. The route has a length of 10,228 km (6,355 mi) and links Cairo in Egypt to Cape Town in South Africa.
The Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany Hotspot (MPA) is a biodiversity hotspot, a biogeographic region with significant levels of biodiversity, in Southern Africa. It is situated near the south-eastern coast of Africa, occupying an area between the Great Escarpment and the Indian Ocean. The area is named after Maputaland, Pondoland and Albany. It stretches from the Albany Centre of Plant Endemism in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, through the Pondoland Centre of Plant Endemism and KwaZulu-Natal Province, the eastern side of Eswatini and into southern Mozambique and Mpumalanga. The Maputaland Centre of Plant Endemism is contained in northern KwaZulu-Natal and southern Mozambique.
Cleft Peak is a mountain peak in the Drakensberg in KwaZulu-Natal. It forms part of an escarpment of the Drakensberg on the border between South Africa and Lesotho. Cleft Peak is the second-highest peak in the northern part of the region, after Mont-aux-Sources, several meters higher.
The Xina Solar One Power Station is a 100 MW (130,000 hp) concentrated solar power plant in South Africa. Constructed between 2014 and 2016, the power station was commercially commissioned in 2017. The solar component of this power station is complemented by molten salt thermal storage technology, which allows the power station to provide full power for another 5.5 hours, after the sun goes down, thus supplying energy during South African peak hours. The consortium that owns the solar farm comprises a foreign independent power producer (IPP), two domestic finance development companies and a local charity. The energy generated here is sold directly to Eskom, the South African national electricity utility company, under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA).
Pofadder occupies a semi-mythological place in our imagination, a sort of South African Timbuktu, a generic caricature of Afrikaner hickdom. - Michael Schmidt, Rediscovering South Africa, a Wayward Guide.
Die naam Putsonderwater spel droog en afgeleë...