Richtersveld National Park

The Richtersveld is a unique mountain desert wilderness of great beauty, tucked in the far northwestern corner of the Northern Cape in South Africa. It is full of changing scenery, with flat sandy plains in the south, to craggy sharp mountains in the northwest and the lushness of the Orange River. In this wilderness lies the 162 445 ha Richtersveld National Park, proclaimed in 1991 after 18 years of negotiation between the National Park Board and the local Nama people. The park is now managed jointly by the local community and the South African Parks. The Nama people, who lease the land to the board, continue to live and graze their livestock in the area. This is a harsh and unpredictable land where water is scarce and life-sustaining moisture appears in the form of an early-morning fog called "Ihuries" or "Malmokkies" by the locals. It rolls in from the Atlantic sustaining a remarkable range of small reptiles, birds and mammals. The Richtersveld is home to grey rhebok, duiker, steenbok, klipspringer, kudu, Hartman