Category Archives: Destinations

Discover Steinkopf, jewel of the Northern Cape 

Travelling north from Cape Town, Steinkopf is the last village on the N7 before reaching the Namibian border at Vioolsdrift. Normally travellers are in a hurry to get to Namibia and don’t pay any attention to this small and apparently rather insignificant town in the Northern Cape. Lizette Swart spent some time on a recent overland trip and discovered that it has a fascinating history… Continue reading Discover Steinkopf, jewel of the Northern Cape 

Are they really fairy circles?

You might have noticed the inexplicable bald patches in the landscape when travelling Namibia and the Northern Cape. Tourists have often wondered if these were caused by radio activity, meteorites, UFO’s or maybe even fairies.  The indigenous San and Himba people believed that these circles may have been caused by dragons that stayed underground, evil spirits or gods. By Karin Theron

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Angola… an acquired taste

For many years Angola was reasonably inaccessible to self-drive overlanders, mainly because of the civil war and its residual landmines combined with an officialdom that was not tourist friendly. However, the few travellers who dared to visit this former Portuguese colony during the past decade or so absolutely loved the country for its scenic diversity and fishing opportunities. In recent years Angola has become a popular destination for self-drivers with a taste for the unusual…

Few people feel comfortable overlanding Angola on their own but rather join organised self-drive group tours, like those organised by Voetspore.  Some travellers will find the lack of tourism infrastructure off-putting, but others like the fact that you can still safely wild camp in Angola as well as its isolation and wide open spaces.  Indeed Angola has a lot to offer the adventurous independent overlander who is looking for a rewarding challenge.

Approaching the Atlantic Ocean through the Namibe Nature Reserve. (Photo: Stan Weakly)

Continue reading Angola… an acquired taste