The Long Road to the Donkie Stap
29th September to 2nd October 2006
by Gretta Jones
 Twenty-two hikers had to make their way to Garies in Namaqualand, the meeting place for the Donkie Stap Safari. Piet, Beaté, Johnny, Betty, Derek and I arranged to travel together, leaving on Friday morning at 4 a.m. Dion had warned us that the N12 (Klerksdorp - Wolmaransstad - Schweizer-Reneke) was in a bad state of repair, so we did a deviation from Klerksdorp through Hartebeesfontein, Ottosdal, Delareyville to Vryburg, where, at last, we found a Wimpy for a breakfast stop! What an eye-opener it is to see these dorpies – one cannot imagine that they are actually shown on the map.
After Vryburg we arrived at Kuruman, where we stopped at The Eye of Kuruman. The countryside around Kuruman looks rather bleak, but the town itself is an oasis, greened by the local river and its fount – a natural spring which produces 20 million litres of crystal clear water each day. The spring has never been known to dry up or reduce its flow, even in the severest of Kalahari droughts. The waters well up to become “The Eye”, a tranquil lakelet, situated beside the town’s main street, filled with koi, and surrounded by willows, palms and other shady trees. We also visited the Moffat Mission, which was established by the London Missionary Society in 1816. Robert and Mary Moffat translated and printed the bible in the local language and established a school. They became the in-laws of the great David Livingstone. Moffat built a church that still stands, still fulfils its pastoral role, and whose grounds are still graced by lovely syringa and fig trees, pomegranates, pears and tropical species. We had our lunch in the peaceful surroundings under the shade of the trees.
 We headed for Upington where we were to stay overnight at “Die Eiland” resort. We passed numerous enormous sociable weavers’ nests, built on the telephone poles. We stopped to take photos of these unusual works of nature and when the Joneses car petered out twice en route, the rest of our party thought it was just Derek stopping again for photographic opportunities! A bit of coaxing each time and we were on our way. At Upington the majestic Date Palm Avenue entrance to Die Eiland was declared a national monument in 1982. More than 200 palms were planted in 1935 forming the longest avenue of palms in the southern hemisphere. On Saturday morning we set off to explore Upington, which is the principal town and social centre of the ‘Green Kalahari’, owing its prosperity to agriculture and its irrigated lands along the Orange River. At the Kalahari Oranje Museum, there is a bronze monument to donkeys, symbolising the tireless contribution of beasts of burden in developing the Lower Orange River Valley.
It was here that Piet and Beatés mobile ‘phones went missing – it happens even in the middle of the Kalahari! We were now looking for the wine cellars – off to Kanoneiland, but being Saturday the cellars were closed, so we pushed on to Keimoes and arrived at the winery 2 minutes before closing time. Johnny, who does not partake in the imbibing of alcoholic beverages, begged them to let us in and they relented. No tasting, and we bought blind! Not the greatest of wines, but it was worth the stop, even if it was just to admire the kokerbome (quiver trees) in the parking area!
 Our next stopover was Augrabies Falls. We arrived in the early afternoon, pitched our tents, and headed to view the Falls. This is where the Orange River is at its most impressive as it thunders its way through a ravine and into a pool walled by sheer granite. The day we were there, the flow was 56 cubic metres per second (cusecs). However, in April this year, the flow reached a peak of 1024 cusecs – 25 times more! The name ‘Augrabies’ was derived from the Khoi word meaning ‘place of great noise’ which accurately describes the roar as the falls plummet 56m into the ravine. New platforms have been erected, connected by walkways so that one can view the falls from different angles. The heat was terrific and we headed back to the restaurant for ice-cold water, after which we took a drive around the park, seeing only springbok and eland. Wildlife also includes giraffe, klipspringer, steenbok and leopard. The park is home for the black rhino, the most endangered of African mammals.
On Sunday morning we set off to Pofadder, a place we had all been looking forward to visit! In contrast to the heat of the previous day, we experienced a very cold, overcast morning. We had to take photographs of this dorpie, the best place being in front of the Pofadder Hotel – just to remind us that we had been there! The tripod was set up in the middle of the main street from which we took our time taking shots with all the cameras in our group. The only problem we had with traffic was when one elderly gentleman, clearly on his way to church, with hat and all, drove past us three times to see what was happening! We saw no pofadders. We had breakfast at the coffee shop adjacent to the filling station, complete with ox wagon and Voortrekker kappies. Souvenirs were for sale and Johnny and Derek bought new caps, which read: New York, Paris, Pofadder. Did not see either of them wearing the caps on the Donkie Stap!
On our way to Springbok we had to deviate to Aggeneys to find that it is a fairly modern mining settlement, in the iron ore area (Black Mountain mine). We arrived at Springbok and checked in at our bungalow at the Springbok Caravan Park after which the six of us piled into Piet’s twin cab and set off towards Namabeep to look for flowers. In amongst the koppies there were still small patches flowers to be seen. By now we were starving so we went back into town in search of a restaurant – and found the best! As we were heading for the restaurant we seemed to bump into the majority of the Donkie hikers and all ended up having a very festive party – especially as it was Johnny and Betty’s 40th Wedding Anniversary! The two lovebirds stood us to wine and champagne and there were toasts all round! Happy 40th John & Bett. We wish you many more!
 After some last minute shopping and picking up our vacuum packed meat for the hike from the butchery, we left Springbok on Monday morning. The scenery en route to Garies was spectacular – lush and green with patches of Namaqualand flowers here and there. We drove up into the hills at Kamieskroon for about 10 kms, but were forced to turn back when the road demanded a 4 x 4. Piet and Beaté continued on this road to Garies and found the scenery to be what they expected. At Garies we met the rest of a very excited ERHC hiking party on the veranda of the ‘Toeristestal’, waiting to be transported to the start of the Donkie Stap Safari. We left in three vehicles, all loaded up to the hilt, (nes ‘n donkie trek) driven by Wouter, Sonja and Wollie.
This was a first-time visit for Derek and me to Namaqualand – a really beautiful part of our country. Our next visit will definitely be (soon) in the ‘flower season’!
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