The Goegap Nature Reserve is a semi-desert nature reserve in Northern Cape,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

and lies around east of

Springbok The springbok (''Antidorcas marsupialis'') is a medium-sized antelope found mainly in south and southwest Africa. The sole member of the genus ''Antidorcas'', this bovid was first described by the German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm ...

. The area was once used to graze livestock and was proclaimed in 1966 as a reserve then fenced in 1969 and wildlife introduced shortly afterward. It was originally known as the Hester Malan Nature Reserve. After several extensions, the park currently covers an area of . The name ''Goegap'' comes from the

Khoekhoe Khoekhoen (singular Khoekhoe) (or Khoikhoi in the former orthography; formerly also '' Hottentots''"Hottentot, n. and adj." ''OED Online'', Oxford University Press, March 2018, www.oed.com/view/Entry/88829. Accessed 13 May 2018. Citing G. S. ...

word for "watering hole."

Geography

Goegap is part of the Succulent Karoo transitioning into the

Namaqualand Namaqualand (khoekhoe: "Nama-kwa" meaning Nama Khoe people's land) is an arid region of Namibia and South Africa, extending along the west coast over and covering a total area of . It is divided by the lower course of the Orange River into ...

Broken Veld, with an average rainfall of per annum. The temperatures are extreme, including frost in the winter and temperatures over in the summer. The area includes wide, sandy plains and mountains, the highest is Carolusberg at . There are roads for normal cars and tracks for

4x4 Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case ...

in the reserve. Looping trails ranging in length from 2 to 17 km start from the succulent garden.

Biodiversity

The main attraction is the desert bloom that covers the sand with flowers in the spring provided enough winter rain. August and September are the most popular months to visit. Around 600 known plant species have been found here along with 45 mammal species and 94 types of bird.

Birds

Bird species found in the reserve include

Cape eagle-owl The Cape eagle-owl (''Bubo capensis'') is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is one of several large species of the eagle-owl genus ''Bubo''. Range Its range is limited to the southernmost regions of southern Africa as well as parts ...

Black eagle The black eagle (''Ictinaetus malaiensis'') is a bird of prey. Like all eagles, it is in the family Accipitridae, and is the only member of the genus ''Ictinaetus''. They soar over forests in the hilly regions of tropical and subtropical South ...

, Booted eagle, Ludwig’s bustard,

White-backed mousebird The white-backed mousebird (''Colius colius'') is a large species of mousebird. It is distributed in western and central regions of southern Africa from Namibia and southern Botswana eastwards to Central Transvaal and the eastern Cape. This mo ...

Karoo eremomela The Karoo eremomela (''Eremomela gregalis''), also known as the yellow-rumped eremomela, is a species of bird formerly placed in the "Old World warbler" assemblage, but now placed in the family Cisticolidae. It is found in Namibia and South Afric ...

Dusky sunbird The dusky sunbird (''Cinnyris fuscus'') is a species of bird in the family Nectariniidae. This relatively dull sunbird Sunbirds and spiderhunters make up the family Nectariniidae of passerine birds. They are small, slender passerines from t ...

ostriches Ostriches are large flightless birds of the genus ''Struthio'' in the order Struthioniformes, part of the infra-class Palaeognathae, a diverse group of flightless birds also known as ratites that includes the emus, rheas, and kiwis. There a ...

, spotted dikkops and Ground woodpecker.

Mammals

Megafauna such as

oryx ''Oryx'' is a genus consisting of four large antelope species called oryxes. Their pelage is pale with contrasting dark markings in the face and on the legs, and their long horns are almost straight. The exception is the scimitar oryx, which ...

klipspringer The klipspringer (; ''Oreotragus oreotragus'') is a small antelope found in eastern and southern Africa. The sole member of its genus and subfamily/tribe, the klipspringer was first described by German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zim ...

, duiker, and the endangered

Hartmann's mountain zebra Hartmann's mountain zebra (''Equus zebra hartmannae'') is a subspecies of the mountain zebra found in far south-western Angola and western Namibia, easily distinguished from other similar zebra species by its dewlap as well as the lack of strip ...

s call the park home. Other wildlife include smaller mammals, 26 reptile species, and 3 amphibian species.

Vegetation

The ''Hester Malan Wild Flower Garden'' features a succulent garden and a rock garden. The information library has valuable resources on the succulent plants of

to accompany the planted and labeled examples of the featured succulents.

Gallery

File:Suráfrica, Goegap 14.jpg File:Suráfrica, Goegap 17.jpg File:Namaqualand, Goegap 1003.jpg File:Namaqualand, Goegap 0035.jpg

References

{{commons category, Goegap Nature reserves in South Africa 1966 establishments in South Africa