- Where
- North-western Northern Cape
on the Orange River, border with Namibia - Coordinates
- 28.2167° S
17.0500° E - Owned by
- The Richtersveld Nama community
park run with SANParks - Plants
- About 4,849 species
about 40 per cent endemic (Wikipedia) - Status
- National park, 1991; transfrontier park, 2003
World Heritage landscape to the south, 2007 - Getting there
- Gravel to Sendelingsdrift
four-wheel drive inside - Best visited
- April to September, when the heat eases; August for flowers
- Advisory
- South Africa Level 2
Morning came in as a fog off a sea I never saw, and by noon it had gone and the mountains stood bare in rust and slate. On a stony slope a spiny trunk, taller than me, held one small tuft of leaves on its crown. Farther up stood others, tilted all alike. I kept my distance. Down by the green river, goats.
The short answer
The Richtersveld is a desert of steep ravines and high mountains in the north-western corner of South Africa’s Northern Cape province, where the Orange River forms the border with Namibia; Wikipedia gives its highest point as Cornellberg, at 1,377 metres. Its northern part is the Richtersveld National Park, proclaimed in 1991, by Wikipedia’s account, after eighteen years of negotiations between the National Parks Board and the local Nama people, who own the land, still live in it and graze their livestock there, and manage the park with South African National Parks. In 2003 it was joined with Namibia’s |Ai-|Ais Hot Springs Game Park as the |Ai-|Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park. To the south, the Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape, which UNESCO describes as 160,000 hectares owned and managed communally, has been a World Heritage Site since June 2007. This entry is about the national park and the halfmens slopes inside it.
Why it's worth knowing
Fog, and a great many plants. Rainfall here runs from about 5 millimetres a year in the east to 200 in the west, Wikipedia records, and much of what life there is depends on the morning fog off the Atlantic, which local people call ihuries or malmokkies. Wikipedia counts about 4,849 plant species in the Richtersveld, about 40 per cent of them endemic, most of them succulents, and records more than 360 species in a single square kilometre of the transfrontier park.
The halfmens. The strangest of them is Pachypodium namaquanum, the halfmens, Afrikaans for “half-human”: a single, warty stem covered in sharp spines, which SANParks gives as 1.5 to 2.5 metres tall and sometimes up to 4, crowned with a small tuft of wavy-edged leaves in the winter growing season. Wikipedia notes that its top is usually bent towards the north, and that from a distance it looks like a person trudging up a slope. Its tubular flowers open from August to October. SANParks and Wikipedia record that the Nama revere the halfmens as the embodiment of their ancestors, half human and half plant. It grows only in the Richtersveld and southern Namibia, and Wikipedia notes that collectors threaten it; it is listed under CITES.
The field notes
Herders and their houses
UNESCO describes the Nama of the Richtersveld as having moved seasonally with their livestock for some two thousand years, one of the few places in southern Africa where that transhumance still goes on, and the only one where they still build portable houses of rush mats, haru oms. Their grazing, UNESCO says, has shaped the botanical landscape the listing protects, and the community of graziers sustains it.
Tree aloes, zebra and the river
Three species of tree aloe, known as kokerbooms or quiver trees, grow here alongside the halfmens, Wikipedia records, and the animals include Hartmann’s mountain zebra, klipspringer, caracal and leopard. SANParks points visitors to the Halfmens Pass to look for the halfmens, to the “Hand of God”, a rock face 14 kilometres down the road from Sendelingsdrift that local people believe carries God’s handprint, and to picnic places on the banks of the Orange River. At Sendelingsdrift a pontoon carries vehicles across the river into Namibia’s half of the park.
Heat and cold
SANParks warns that temperatures in the park reach above 50 °C in summer and fall below freezing on winter nights; Wikipedia records about 53 °C at the height of summer, temperatures easing in April and May, cold nights from June to August, and gale-force winter winds that raise sandstorms. SANParks puts the peak of the flower season in early to mid-August.
The crown of a halfmens in flower, its trunk thick with spines, September 2017.
Photograph: Dr. Alexey Yakovlev · Pachypodium namaquanum (Apocynaceae) (26428964607) · CC BY-SA 2.0
A sandy track through succulent scrub toward bare hills, July 2015.
Photograph: South African Tourism · Vegetation and mountains, Richtersveld National Park, Unesco World Heritage site, Northern Cape, South Africa (20352268568) · CC BY 2.0
A tree aloe on a stony slope, July 2015.
Photograph: South African Tourism · Tree, Richtersveld National Park, Unesco World Heritage site, Northern Cape, South Africa (20548713511) · CC BY 2.0
- Bring the high, sturdy vehicle the tracks ask for, and enough water to share with a stranger.
- The land and the herds here are the herders’ own. Wait for the goats to cross, and greet whoever is walking behind.
- Be up before the fog lifts. The mountains come out of it singly, and each deserves somebody there to meet it.
- Find the tall spiny plants on the high pass, look at them from the track, and touch nothing.
- Try to put a name to each small succulent underfoot. I filled a page before lunch, then came to a slope with a hundred more and closed the notebook out of politeness.
A halfmens. Pachypodium namaquanum, a succulent with a single stem, thick at the base and covered in sharp spines, usually 1.5 to 2.5 metres tall, with a small tuft of wavy-edged leaves at the top in winter and the top itself usually bent towards the north. It grows on the rocky slopes of the Richtersveld and in southern Namibia, and its name in Afrikaans means “half-human”. In the park it is looked at from the track and left as it stands.
Tally, in the marginSomewhere in the looking I had lowered my voice, and there was nobody there to hear it. It went on leaning with its neighbours, spined all over, all of a mind.
Getting there
How to get there. By road, the last of it on gravel. Sendelingsdrift, on the Orange River, is the park’s main South African entrance. SANParks gives the quickest route from the N7 as the turn-off at Steinkopf, then west via Port Nolloth and Alexander Bay, with only the last 80 kilometres on dirt; it puts Sendelingsdrift 90 kilometres from Alexander Bay, 180 from Port Nolloth and 320 from Springbok, the nearest sizeable town. A two-wheel-drive car reaches Sendelingsdrift, but inside the park the roads are farm tracks, and SANParks says many routes need a four-wheel drive and that sedan cars are not permitted. A second gate, Helskloof, is reached over a pass from Vioolsdrif and Eksteenfontein that SANParks recommends for four-wheel drives only.
When to go. April to September, when the heat eases; August for the flowers. Summer days pass 50 °C.
What to arrange ahead. A high-clearance four-wheel drive and a SANParks booking for somewhere to stay. Admission and overnight permits are issued at the park office at Sendelingsdrift before you go in, and Helskloof Gate opens from 7 am to 7 pm all year. Carry your own drinking water: SANParks warns that the water at Gannakouriep is too high in minerals to drink. It lists petrol and diesel at the park.
Safety. The State Department has South Africa at Level 2, exercise increased caution (27 May 2025), because of crime, terrorism, unrest and kidnapping; it says violent crime is more common in the downtown areas of big cities, especially after dark. The Richtersveld is a remote park far from them. Its own hazards are heat, distance from help, and rough tracks.
Mark this place
Common questions
Where is the Richtersveld?
The Richtersveld is a mountainous desert in the north-western corner of South Africa’s Northern Cape province, on the Orange River border with Namibia. Its main entrance, Sendelingsdrift, is 90 kilometres from Alexander Bay and 320 kilometres from Springbok, according to South African National Parks.
What is a halfmens?
The halfmens, Pachypodium namaquanum, is a spiny succulent of the Richtersveld and southern Namibia with a single stem, usually 1.5 to 2.5 metres tall, topped by a tuft of leaves; its Afrikaans name means “half-human”. SANParks records that the Nama revere it as the embodiment of their ancestors.
Who owns the Richtersveld National Park?
The local Nama community owns the land of the Richtersveld National Park and manages it with South African National Parks, by Wikipedia’s account; the park was proclaimed in 1991 after eighteen years of negotiations, and Nama herders still graze their livestock there.
Do you need a 4x4 in the Richtersveld?
Inside the park, mostly yes. South African National Parks says a two-wheel-drive car can reach the Sendelingsdrift entrance to the Richtersveld, but that the internal roads are farm tracks, many routes need a four-wheel drive, and sedan cars are not permitted.
When is the best time to visit the Richtersveld?
April to September, when the heat eases. South African National Parks warns that Richtersveld temperatures pass 50 °C in summer and fall below freezing on winter nights, and puts the peak of the flower season in early to mid-August.
What is the Richtersveld World Heritage Site?
The Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape, south of the national park, was listed by UNESCO in June 2007. UNESCO describes it as 160,000 hectares of mountain desert owned and managed by its community, where Nama herders have moved seasonally with their livestock for some two thousand years.
How do you get to the Richtersveld National Park?
By road to Sendelingsdrift on the Orange River. South African National Parks gives the quickest route from the N7 as the turn-off at Steinkopf, then west via Port Nolloth and Alexander Bay, with the last 80 kilometres on gravel. Admission permits are issued at Sendelingsdrift.
Is South Africa safe to visit?
The U.S. State Department has South Africa at Level 2, exercise increased caution, in an advisory dated 27 May 2025, because of crime, terrorism, unrest and kidnapping. It says violent crime is more common in the downtown areas of big cities, especially after dark; the Richtersveld is a remote park far from them.