Nature lovers with a 4×4 and a penchant for isolation and rugged scenery will be enchanted by the 50km coastal strip between the Groen and Spoeg rivers. SANParks acquired 34 000 ha of coastal land from De Beers in November 2008 and incorporated the spectacular coastal area, largely untouched by diamong mining and development, into the Namaqua National Park, making it the fifth largest national park in South Africa, after Kruger, Kgalagadi, Addo and Richtersveld.

The area is of conservation importance due to its estuaries, marshlands and dunelands. It has been prepared for tourism by rehabilitating vegetation, closing tracks and pulling down internal fences. Game endemic to the area – breeding herds of springbok, gemsbok and hartebeest – have been reintroduced.

It takes about two days to explore each little bay and winding track, although the distance can be covered in half a day if you stick to the dirt road which runs inland, parallel to the coast.

The Groenriviermond Lighthouse, built in 1988, is the youngest of South Africa’s fifty-odd lighthouses. Beyond Groenrivier a multitude of trails pass solitary and secluded little bays such as Galjoenbaai, Kwaas-se-baai, Skiploodsbaai, Breekskip, Skynbaai, Boggerolbaai (aka Platduin) and Koringkorrelbaai. The trail crosses the Bitter River, passes white dunelands, a seal colony and a freshwater fountain before reaching the Spoegrivier caves. At Spoegrivier caves, archeological excavation of 2 000-year-old sheep bones provided the earliest evidence of sheep farming by the Khoi in South Africa.

Accommodation is camping only and because of the sea mist, everything left outside at night is wet the next morning. There are five new official campsites, but visitors are also allowed to pitch their tents anywhere near the ocean on existing campsites, as long as they refrain from uprooting vegetation. Visitors must be completely self-sufficient in terms of food, water and wood. A wind screen for the prevailing southerly is welcome in the late afternoon and early evening.

Beware of sharp roots and stones in the sandy tracks, as well as the thorny wild pomegranate (driedoringbos), which are lethal to tyres. It is advisable to travel with another 4×4 vehicle. Cellphone reception is patchy. Fuel is only available in Lutzville and Garies.

The veld is grey scrubland of wild rosemary and skaapbos, and turns into a carpet of Namaqualand daisies, vygies, hondeblomme, perdeblomme and sorrel in the flowering season.

We saw steenbok, duiker, blue-headed lizards, pygmy falcon, jackal buzzard, pale chanting goshawk, osprey and rock kestrel.

*Edited version of an article that first appeared in Wild magazine, Autumn 2010.