Sparkling stones, beautiful flowers & sheep
The far northwest of the Northern Cape is where three distinct regions converge: Namaqualand, Bushmanland and the West Coast. Each region has its particular characteristics, landscape, people and stories. And each is knows for a special “talent”: Namaqualand puts on spectacular displays of wildflowers, Bushmanland produces the best mutton and lamb, and the West Coast has its snoek and diamonds.
If you want to experience everything that’s on offer in these parts, take one of the long, straight highways that lead to the Northern Cape and aim for Springbok, Pofadder and Port Nolloth.
SPRINGBOK
Sheep country
It’s just before 9am on a Saturday morning and plumes of smoke are hanging in the air above the rugby field at Namakwaland High School. Braai fires have been lit right around the pitch and people are gathered around them. Today, Springbok smells like braaivleis because the town and the Boesmanland Boerevereniging are hosting Braai Day.
“Actually, any day is Braai Day in Springbok,” says Francois Nelson. He and Peetie van den Heever are busy building a braai fire at the Springbok Toyota stand. “There are people here who braai every single day. Their monthly firewood bill is higher than their electricity bill!”
“We use only wood,” says Peetie. “If you use a Weber and briquettes, you belong in the city.”
This also applies if you eat vegetables. “We have a doctor in town who says vegetables should be fed to sheep to fatten them up,” says Francois.
He believes fatty mutton ribs are the best meat for a braai. “Salt, pepper and lemon juice – that’s it. Then you stand your grid upright next to the coals. For a long time. There’s nothing better.”
Springbok is regarded as the capital of Namaqualand. This part of the world is renowned for its wildflowers, but it’s clear that the locals are serious about their sheep too. The carcass of a Dorper lamb hangs in a refrigerated trailer – first prize in the Boerevereniging’s guess-the-weight-of-the-carcass raffle. Every now and then, someone opens the trailer door to take a look at the lamb.
“It is obvious it weighs 23,9kg,” says a father to his son.
Nearby, auctioneer André Smith starts to call for bids on young Dorper rams in the rapid auctioneering language that only farmers can understand. When two Yorkshire terriers extricate themselves from their leash collars and run towards the sheep enclosure, André casually requests someone to, “Get rid of those lions,” before he continues:
