Namaqua Hiking Tours
4 Day Flower Hike
COST: Sharing R10 600 | Single R12 600
DATES AVAILABLE
(Register Below by clicking on the date)
Hike on Nigramoep Guest Farm, covered with flowers and experience the Schaapriver Canyon, hike around Nabapeep known for it’s daisy filled roads and hills, hike on trails in Goegap Nature Reserve and amongst the beautiful flowers between Okiep and Concordia. You will see flower covered valleys and experience natures’ magical show of colour and beauty during the world’s largest and most spectacular natural flower display.
4 Day/5 Night Schaapriver Canyon Flower Hike
COST: Sharing R13 900 | Single R15 900
DATES AVAILABLE
(Register Below by clicking on the date)
Hike along the river bed of the magnificent Schaap River in the Canyon as it meanders through a majestic canyon carved by the hands of time. This Slackpack hiking tour takes place during the Flower season in Namaqua. You will see flower covered valleys, rugged mountains, ancient canyons and experience natures’ magical show of colour and beauty during the world’s largest and most spectacular natural flower display. Hike where the shy leopard silently roam the weathered canyon walls and the lunar landscapes created in an ancient time when everything was a boiling pot of melted granite.
4 Day Flower Hike
This Slackpack hiking tour is not just about the flowers, but about experiencing the best of Namakwa. Trisport has been operating in Namaqua for more than 10 years and know where to take you for a great hike in between amazing flowers. Therefore, if need be, Trisport will adapt the program, accordingly, depending on where the best flowers are at the time of your Slackpack hike. You will experience 3 different areas of Namakwa, we will “hunt” the areas with the best flowers with you and take you to some areas that not even the locals know. Even if we, Trisport, join you on each tour, you will have local guides and people that truly will make you smile as they are unique to Namakwa (Namaqua).
Hike on Nigramoep Guest Farm, covered with flowers and experience the beautiful fauna and flora on the pristine Guest farm, hike around Nabapeep known for it’s daisy filled roads and hills, hike on trails in Goegap Nature Reserve and amongst the beautiful flowers or between Okiep and Concordia or to an area close to Kamieskroon.
You will see flower covered valleys and experience natures’ magical show of colour and beauty during the world’s largest and most spectacular natural flower display.
You will see Quiver trees more than 100 years old.
Highlights of the Tour
- Beautiful Flowers of Namaqua during the Flower season
- See the best flowers at the time of your tour, we will take you to where we know the best flowers are at that time.
- Beautiful lodges, hand picked by Trisport
- Experienced local Tour Guides of each venue that know the history, Fauna and Flora
- Cultural experience with the local Nama people
- Hike in pristine areas with no other people around you
- Experience and see amazing Quiver trees
- See hidden villages
- See a variety of different wildlife
- A view point of the Namaqua Schaapriver Canyon to experience and see the incredible hidden secret of Namaqua, the Schaapriver Canyon, (65km of Canyon over private farms), with high cliffs and rockfaces that tell and ancient story
- The hospitality of the local people of Namaqua
- The food of the local people of Namaqua
- The exhilarating transport in a custom build pipe car
- The views towards the Richtersveld and Atlantic Ocean
Information
Namakwa (Namaqua) is an arid region of Namibia and South Africa, extending along the west coast over 1,000 kilometres and covering a total area of 440,000 square kilometres. It is divided by the lower course of the Orange River into two portions – Little Namakwa to the south and Great Namakwa to the north.
Namakwa remained a very quiet place during the cultural evolution until about 2000 years ago. This was when the Khoikhoi or Nama arrived from the area that now encompasses northern Botswana. The region is known for its cultural history, which was preserved by the Nama and Khoisan tribes. The Nama people are the largest group of Khoikhoi people.
Venues
We use different venues for our Flower Hike Tours, depending on the time of the season. See the venues below:
1. Nigramoep Guest Farm, Schaap River Canyon, Northern Cape
2. Okiep Country hotel, Okiep,
3. Mountain View Guest Lodge, Springbok
4. Daisy Country Lodge, Springbok
5. Jakkalswater Guest Farm
Nigramoep Guest Farm: Beautiful renovated Guest cottages and farm houses. Most cottages and houses have 2 or more rooms. You will experience Nigramoep’s delicious farm style home cooking food.
Okiep Country Hotel: The tourist centre of Okiep is the excellent Okiep Country Hotel. The hotel houses a very popular restaurant and bar. Each room is en-suite and the hotel has a 3 star grading. The hotel is famous for it’s amazing food
Jakkalswater Guest farm: Nestled between the slopes and granite boulders of the Kamiesberg Mountains, Jakkalswater guest farm is situated 9.9 miles from Springbok
Daisy Country Lodge: With magnificent views overlooking the Koppies and Valleys, Daisy Country Lodge is truly an oasis in this semi desert area.
Mountain View Guest Lodge: The award-winning Mountain View Guest House sits high on a hill overlooking the picturesque and bustling Northern Cape town of Springbok. Each suite is fully air-conditioned with a mini bar fridge, TV, hairdryer and tea and coffee making facilities. Enjoy the beautiful and tranquil garden with pool.
Distances
Day 1: 4km
Day 2: 14km
Day 3: 12km
Day 4: 12km
Entries Available
Limited to 16 entries
Fitness Level Requirement
Intermediate Hikers and more. Not for Beginners. Must be able to do some technical sections over rocks and boulders and walking off road through the bush. Must be able to walk at least 12 km to 15 km per day. People older than 70 must contact us 1st before they register please.
Hiking Surface
Jeep tracks, single tracks, boulders, small rocks, some steep short uphill sections, hiking trail, rocky roads, up-hill, down-hill. Elevation of about 300 to 500m per day.
Entry Fee and Highlights Includes
- 4 Nights, 4 Days;
- 4 nights accommodation
- 4 Days of hiking
- A Trisport Goody bag
- Local Guides on each hike
- Cost of Guides
- Trisport Guides
- Mine Tour
- Nature Reserve entry fees
- Private property permits and entry fees
- All arrangements to ensure you have an amazing Flower hike
- All meals from dinner on first night to dinner the last night
- Home cooked Namakwa meals; and
- All the arrangements by Trisport
- And unforgettable and unique Namakwa experience.
Entry Fee Excludes
- Travel to your start venue, (we will send it to you once you booked) and in between our hiking venues, we will go where the flowers are best
- Alcoholic drinks; and
- Breakfast on departure
- Guide tips.
- Your own vehicle to drive from venue to venue, no 4 x 4 needed, but high clearance SUV advised
Schedule
Day 1
15:00 Check in at your over night venue for 2 nights.
Do an optional hike on your own, after you checked in and have settled, explore and enjoy a great view.
19:00 Dinner
Day 2
08:00 Breakfast
09:00 Hike
Experiencing the beautiful fauna and flora, see the remains of an old copper mine, see the west coast in the distance, learn about the history, stopping for tea, stopping for lunch at a beautiful spot. Enjoy your guides passion for Nature and all the information about the amazing flowers
16:00 Drive to the view point of the Schaapriver Canyon, overlook the beautiful Canyon and if the weather permits, have a sundowner
19:30 Dinner and freshly baked bread and salad made by us.
Day 3
07:00 Breakfast
08:00 Leave in a convoy, with you own vehicle, for our next overnight venue for 2 nights
10:00 We will go to the best place to hike where we know there is flowers. It might be a single track hiking trail with an elevation of about 300m. It depends on where the flowers are the best. Hiking enjoying the fauna and flora, the history, stopping for tea, stopping for lunch at a beautiful spot.
14:00 Check in at your next venue, each tour’s venues are different, it depends on what time of the season it is. We use various venues to stay at, but you will experience the best of Namaqua while you are with us on the tour
18:30 Dinner
Day 4
07:00 Breakfast
08:00 Leave for our next hiking venue with your own vehicle
10:00 We will go to a place to hike where we know there are nice flowers. Hiking enjoying the fauna and flora, the history, stopping for tea and lunch on the way.
18:30 Dinner
Day 5
07:30 Breakfast and Good Byes
4 Day Schaapriver Canyon Flower Hike
Hike along the river bed of the magnificent Schaap River in the Canyon as it meanders through a majestic canyon carved by the hands of time. This Slackpack hiking tour takes place during the Flower season in Namaqua. You will see flower covered valleys, rugged mountains, ancient canyons and experience natures’ magical show of colour and beauty during the world’s largest and most spectacular natural flower display. Hike where the shy leopard silently roam the weathered canyon walls and the lunar landscapes created in an ancient time when everything was a boiling pot of melted granite.
Trisport is happy to announce an absolute unique fully catered Hiking (Slack Packing) experience! VERY few people have ever done this Hike, or know of its existence! If you have done the Fish River Canyon, you will love this River Canyon even better as it is still wild, not commercial, clean and definitely not crowded with hikers.
Highlights of the Tour
- Beautiful Flowers of Namaqua during the Flower season
- Experienced local Tour Guides of each venue that know the history, Fauna and Flora
- Hike in pristine areas with no other people around you
- See lots of different wildlife
- The hospitality of the local people of Namaqua
- The food of the local people of Namaqua
- The exhilarating transport in a custom build pipe car
- The views over the Schaapriver Canyon
- The views towards the Richtersveld and Atlantic Ocean
- Staying in beautiful renovated whitewashed cottages
- Experience one of Namakwa’s best secret’s, the Schaap river Canyon
- The beautiful cliffs and rock faces of the Canyon
- Flowers and waterfalls in the Canyon with lots of pools to cool down
Information
The Schaap River Canyon is about 60km long in total. It is in Namakwa between Springbok and Kleinsee. It runs over private property only, and permission are obtain from each farmer to be allowed to hike in the Canyon. Namakwa is an arid region of Namibia and South Africa, extending along the west coast over 1,000 kilometres and covering a total area of 440,000 square kilometres. It is divided by the lower course of the Orange River into two portions – Little Namakwa to the south and Great Namakwa to the north. Namakwa remained a very quiet place during the cultural evolution until about 2000 years ago. This was when the Khoikhoi or Nama arrived from the area that now encompasses northern Botswana. The region is known for its cultural history, which was preserved by the Nama and Khoisan tribes. The Nama people are the largest group of Khoikhoi people.
Venue
Venue: Nigramoep Guest Farm, Schaap River Canyon, Northern Cape
Your Accommodation: 2 nights at Nigramoep Guest Cottages and 3 nights in Luxury Tents with proper beds and mattresses in the Canyon
Nigramoep consist of beautiful renovated guest cottages and old farm houses. Most cottages and houses have 2 or more rooms and you might share a bathroom. You will experience the delicious farm style home cooking of Nigramoep Guest Farm. Nigramoep does have a bar, but you can bring your own drinks as well.
Distances
Day 1 : Arrival
Day 2 : 19km hike from the Guest farm down into the Schaapriver Canyon up to our base camp where we will stay for 3 nights, steep downill today until the bottom of the canyon, bit of bundu bashing as we hike through the Beautiful colourful veld with lots of flowers.
Day 3 : 8 or 16km hike from the Basecamp into the canyon and back, you will be inside the canyon and see the majestic canyon as it stretched out, you will see lots of flowers as you hike in the canyon. No elevation today, it is up to you, either a easy rest day after the previous harder day or you can do a good 16km hike in the Canyon
Day 4 : 15km, hike from the base camp to a different part of the Canyon via a beautiful ravine, only elevation of 290 m, beautiful flowers and rock pools in the ravine and canyon, very high cliffs, see klipspringers jumping from rock to rock, see leopard spoor in the sandy patches, see amazing rock formations, sandy patches, donkey tracks, rocky sections.
Day 5 : 14km, hike out of the canyon back to Nigramoep guest farm, see the Verreaux and Booted eagle’s nest, lots of flowers at the water points, beautiful views as you climb out of the canyon, beautiful flowers along the way, elevation 550m, sandy patches, donkey tracks, boulders, climbing out of the canyon back to the guest house.
Day 6 : Breakfast and Good Byes
Entries Available
Limited to 20 entries
Fitness Level
NO BEGINNERS
Intermediate to advance level hikers. You must be fit for hiking up to 17km per day with sections of rocky and uneven areas over boulders and loose rocks. You will ascend 850meters into a the Canyon on day 1, but ascent 550 meters out of the Canyon on the last day. People 70 years old and older must please contact us first before registering.
Entry Fee and Highlights Includes
- 5 Days and 5 Nights;
- 2 Nights accommodation at the Canyon Guest Farm, 3 nights Glamping in the Canyon
- Includes a big tent, where you can stand up in, bed, mattresses. The tents and beds with mattresses are permanently at the base camp
- Lights and electricity in the camp
- Staying in beautiful renovated whitewashed cottages
- 3 Nights Glamping in the Schaap River Canyon on private property;
- 4 Days hiking with experienced guides born in Namakwa, eager to share their intimate knowledge of the flowers, geography and history of the area;
- All the permissions and payments of the local farmers where we will transverse over
- Transport and logistics to get your gear/ luggage to the base camp
- Supply of water, fire wood and cooking equipment;
- A hot shower and flushable toilets
- All meals from dinner on arrival to breakfast on departure day;
- Freshly baked bread and salad each night;
- Wine each night
- A Cash Bar available at Base Camp in the Canyon and at Nigramoep Guest Farm
- Home cooked Namakwa meals;
- All the arrangements by Trisport
Entry Fee Excludes
- Travel to and from Springbok, Northern Cape;
- Sleeping bag, pillow,
- Day pack,
- Tea/coffee sachets, coffee cup, small flask for the hike.
- Snacks for during the hike;
- Tips for the Guides; and
- Alcoholic Beverages.
- Extra Flower Tour options : Namaqua Undiscovered Cultural Tour see: https://sjupsjup.com/ for more detail and book through the website.
Schedule
Day 1
15:00-18:00 Arrival at Nigramoep Guest Farm and Dinner
Day 2
07:00 Breakfast
08:00 Start with the 19km hike from the Guest Farm towards the Schaapriver Canyon. It is a uneven terrain with lot of small rocks on day 1, start off on a jeep track, then followed by a short bushy section through the flowers area to see the best flowers on the beautiful Nigramoep pristine areas, lunch (provided) in the veld, coffee breaks along the way, and arrive late afternoon back at Base Camp in the Canyon to spend 3 nights at the Base Camp. Bar available at the Base Camp.
17:00 onwards arrive at Base Camp and have a cold beer, check in into you Tent with a proper bed, matrass etc
18:00 Dinner with wine with freshly baked bread and salad made by us.
Day 3
07:00 Breakfast
08:00 An 8 or 16km hike from the Basecamp into the canyon and back, you will be inside the canyon and see the majestic canyon as it stretched out, you will see lots of flowers as you hike in the canyon. No elevation today, it is up to you, either a easy rest day after the previous harder day or you can do a good 16km hike in the Canyon
Hiking is flat, but has sandy patches, rocky sections, loose rocks, steep downhill and donkey trails.
You will start to see beautiful rock formations. Hiking, experiencing the geology of the canyon, the fauna and flora, the history, stopping for tea, stopping for lunch at a beautiful spot.
16:00 Arrive back at the Base camp and enjoy a cold drink
18:00 Dinner, wine and freshly baked bread and salad made by us. Relax around the bonfire while we listen to the sounds of the animals and canyon.
Day 4
07:00 Breakfast
08:00 Do a circular hike in a ravine leading into the canyon.
You will experience the high cliffs of the canyon and secret big water pools and waterfalls.
Lots of pools to swim in, lots of beautiful rock formations, klipspringers, leopard spoor, beautiful flowers, hiking on donkey trails.
16:00 onwards: Arrive at the Base camp and enjoy a hot shower, cold drink while dinner is prepared. Watch the sun set over the red cliffs of the Canyon.
18:00 Dinner and freshly baked bread and salad made by us. Relax around the bonfire while we listen to the sounds of the animals and canyon
Day 5
07:00 Breakfast
08:00 Today we will hike out of the Canyon where we will start with a flat section for about 2km and will then slowly start ascending out of the Canyon back towards Nigramoep
It is 550 meters of elevation. Vasbyt! Watch the views while you are climbing and experiencing the geology of the canyon from above, enjoy the fauna and flora, stopping for tea, stopping for lunch at a beautiful spot. Spot the Verreaux and Booted eagle’s nest, lots of flowers at the water points, beautiful views as you climb out of the canyon, beautiful flowers along the way.
Once on the top it is not too far back to Nigramoep.
14:00 Arrive at Nigramoep Guest Farm and check in
16:00 Drive with your own car or with Nigramoep’s famous pipe cars to have a glass of champagne or drink overlooking the Canyon you just hiked.
18:00 Dinner and Accommodation at Nigramoep Guest Farm.
Day 6
09:00 Breakfast and Goodbyes
