Sendelingsdrift is a border post between Namibia and South Africa in the Richtersveld. The Octha cable ferry crosses the Orange River (Garib) to Namibia. [1] It is guided by tethers on a high rope and is fitted with two outboard motors. The post is usually open from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. It also serves as an entrance to the ǀAi-ǀAis/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park.
Mantophasmatidae is a family of carnivorous wingless insects within the monotypic order Mantophasmatodea, which was discovered in Africa in 2001. Recent evidence indicates a sister group relationship with Grylloblattidae, and Arillo and Engel have combined the two groups into a single order, Notoptera, with Grylloblattodea and Mantophasmatodea ranked as suborders.
The Fish River Canyon, is located in the south of Namibia. It is the largest canyon in Africa, as well as the second most visited tourist attraction in Namibia. It features a gigantic ravine, in total about 160 kilometres (100 mi) long, up to 27 km wide and in places almost 550 meters deep.
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.
Nama are an African ethnic group of South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. They traditionally speak the Nama language of the Khoe-Kwadi language family, although many Nama also speak Afrikaans. The Nama People are the largest group of the Khoikhoi people, most of whom have disappeared as a group, except for the Namas. Many of the Nama clans live in Central Namibia and the other smaller groups live in Namaqualand, which today straddles the Namibian border with South Africa.
Alexander Bay is a town in the extreme north-west of South Africa. It is located on the southern bank of the Orange River mouth. It was named for Sir James Alexander, who was the first person to map the area whilst on a Royal Geographical Society expedition into Namibia in 1836. With diamonds being discovered along the West Coast in 1925, Alexander Bay was established to service the mining industry.
The Richtersveld is a desert landscape characterised by rugged kloofs and high mountains, situated in the north-western corner of South Africa’s Northern Cape province. It is full of changing scenery from flat, sandy, coastal plains, to craggy sharp mountains of volcanic rock and the lushness of the Orange River, which forms the border with neighboring Namibia. The area ranges in altitude from sea level, to 1,377 m (4,518 ft) at Cornellberg. Located in the north-western side of the Northern Cape province in South Africa, the Richtersveld is regarded as the only arid biodiversity hotspot on earth and the majority of the area is inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List due to its cultural values.
The wildlife of Namibia is composed of its flora and fauna. Namibia's endangered species include the wild dog, black rhino, oribi and puku.
Pachypodium namaquanum, also known as halfmens or elephants trunk, is a succulent plant of Southern Africa. The genus name Pachypodium is from the Greek for 'thick foot', an allusion to its swollen base, while the species name namaquanum is a reference to Namaqualand.
Aloidendron pillansii, formerly Aloe pillansii, the giant quiver tree or bastard quiver tree, is a large, branching species of succulent plant indigenous to southern Africa. It is regarded as critically endangered.
Namaqua National Park is a South African national park situated approximately 495 km north of Cape Town and 22 km northwest of Kamieskroon. It has an area of more than 1300 km2. The park is part of Namaqualand, an area covering 55,000 km2 located within the semi-desert Succulent Karoo biome. This biome is a biodiversity hotspot with the largest concentration of succulent plants in the world. The park also has an arid environment with succulent plants. The park was created to protect its flowers. During the spring, wildflowers bloom there in a spectacular fashion. The park's main tourist attraction is this abundant spring bloom of brightly coloured wildflowers.
ǀAi-ǀAis is a Namibian holiday resort with hot mineral springs in the bed of the Fish River. It is situated in Southern Namibia's ǁKaras Region at the base of the Great Karas Mountains, 128 kilometres (80 mi) west of Karasburg and 224 kilometres (139 mi) south-west of Keetmanshoop.
The ǀAi-ǀAis/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park is a peace park straddling the border between South Africa and Namibia. It was formed in 2003 by combining the Namibian ǀAi-ǀAis Hot Springs Game Park and the South African Richtersveld National Park. Most of the South African part of the park forms part of the buffer zone of the Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape World Heritage Site, which measures 5,920 square kilometres (2,290 sq mi). The Fish River Canyon is located in the park, the largest canyon in Africa. A memorandum of understanding was signed on 17 August 2003 by the presidents of South Africa and Namibia, which formalised the establishment of the park. |Ai-|Ais means ‘burning water’, after the hot springs of the same name.
Richtersveld Municipality is a local municipality within the Namakwa District Municipality, in the Northern Cape province of South Africa.
The Dernberg is one of the most notable mountains in the Richtersveld and the Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park, on the border between South Africa and Namibia. This region is noted for its extreme dryness and Dernberg is an important landmark in the Zebrawater watershed that ultimately feeds into the Orange River, South Africa's biggest river.
Goggia gemmula, also known as the Richtersveld dwarf leaf-toed gecko or the Richtersveld pygmy gecko, is a species of gecko. It is found in South Africa and Namibia.
The Bondelswarts are a Nama ethnic group of Southern Africa living in the extreme south of Namibia, in an area centred on the town of Warmbad.
Codon schenckii is a species of flowering plant in the genus Codon. It is native to Namibia and the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. It is also known by the name yellow nectarcup.
The Richtersveld Local Municipality council consists of eleven members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Six councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in six wards, while the remaining five are chosen from party lists so that the total number of party representatives is proportional to the number of votes received. In the election of 1 November 2021 the African National Congress (ANC) won a majority of six seats.
Alexkor is a South African unincorporated joint venture diamond mining company that falls under the Department of Public Enterprises. It was previously a state-owned enterprise, when in 2007 it entered a government-funded pooling and sharing joint venture with the Richtersveld community. The company's core business is diamond prospecting and seabed mining along the north-west coast of the Northern Cape Province of South Africa up to the border with Namibia. It was founded through the proclamation of the Alexkor Limited Act, No. 116 of 1992. The company mines both land and coastal deposits for diamonds.