Just north of Hondeklipbaai nestled right on the rocky shore of the Atlantic Ocean you'll find a new campus. Noup (meaning black dunes in Khoi) is a tiny little but very happy self catering camp that is the Outreach's home for the next three days.
It's just less than 600 kilometres from Klipbokkop and to get here you travel on the N7 via Citrusdal, Clanwilliam, Vanrhynsdorp and then Gharries way deep in the Namaqualand before you turn off at Soebatsfontein towards Koingnaas, a diamond digging town and part of De Beers Namaqua Mine group. At the entrance of the town there is a security gate where you have to sign in as Koingnaas is still actively mining diamonds.
Now you know what it is like travelling on a long haul in a convoy. Gerhard our leader had to think of the people in the twelve Toyotas that couldn't sit still for so long without feeding their addiction. So he'd call for a break and we would pull off. Oh boy, you won't believe me, each time those vehicles were still rocking on their suspension with dust twirling all around us and those addicts were out.
Then they would scatter all over the place and in seconds they're like bloodhounds, noses to the ground, searching and searching on all fours. Yelps of joy as they pluck new species of plants from the Namaqualand soil. Not to mention dung beetles, butterflies and other crawlies. It having been a travelling day, I really thought we will not be able to get closer to the magical 1 500 species for the trip, but hey, these guys are good. We're looking pretty on 66. All more or less en route. Route 66, huh?
One of our team members is Annelise le Roux, a well-known specialist on Succulent Karoo plants who has just published yet another book on the subject titled A wild flower guide to Namaqualand.
I asked her where and how her passion for plants and more specifically plants from this area came from:
" In 1971 four keen honours students were promised a field trip to Namaqualand to see 'some weird and wonderful plants'. This trip never happened and a year later on our first annual leave, fellow student Gretel and I decided to come and see for ourselves. After the holiday, we were convinced – we must know more about these beautiful delicate plants that can survive in such a harsh environment.
"Both of us studied ecology in Namaqualand and are still doing research here to find out more about the plants and vegetation of Namaqualand, but we now also have more questions than ever. The wildlife, both plants and animals, is so abundant and so well adapted that after 35 years we are still agog when we see something new – and we still see something new a few times a day when we are in the veld.
"Namaqualand keeps me humble. Every time I think I have an answer, Namaqualand will prove me wrong. So with about 4 000 species of plants each with its own special way of survival in an incredibly harsh, unpredictable world, who will not be fascinated?"
Gee thanks Annelise, that's wonderful. But as an educated and respectable dog, I have one question for you: Is there really such a plant here in Namaqualand called the Hondepisbossie?
"O yes, the Zygophyllum retrofractum.
And with that swear word, it's Buddy blogging off.
Route tracked on a Garmin Oregon 550
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