The Orange River bucks down the gorge in waves, tumbling 56 m into a pool far below. The brown water crashes and swirls against the granite and a cloud of spray hangs in the air. I’m drenched in seconds, but it’s fun: The river smells of mud and sun-baked rock and offers relief from the relentless Northern Cape heat. A rainbow curves over my head and brown-veined butterflies flit about.
If you’re brave, you’ll stand on your tippytoes at the viewpoint and peer over the railing to the frothing pool below. The roar of the river drowns out everything; all you can think about is water and floods and washing away.
This is what it’s like when the Orange River raises its voice at Augrabies, about 40 km north-west of Kakamas. The waterfall is not named “Aukoerebis” in Nama for nothing - it is the place of great noise.
AUGRABIES IN FLOOD The spectacle has a dark side
A flood is a rare event in these parts and always brings lots of excitement. In midFebruary 2023, I visited Augrabies to talk about previous big flood years with park manager Angela Isaks and socioeconomic transformation officer Christine du Plessis.
Angela took over the reins just before the Covid-19 pandemic in January 2020. Christine and her husband Nardus (a section ranger) have both worked in the park for about 14 years.
When you talk about the big floods in the Lower Orange River region, a few record years are often mentioned: 1974, 1988, 2011, 2021, and the two still fresh in memory: January and
