Augrabies Falls National Park

When the waterfalls are in full flow, their beauty is awesome. The birding is well-worth the extra travel time.

beautiful place

We stayed in Augrabies Falls in September. The weather was brilliant, but there were a lot of flies. It wasn't possible to get out of the car. So we decide to refrained the hiking tour.
Wildlife was okay. But there are Parks with more wildlife. We saw a lot of birds like Hoopoe, Bee eater...
The most beautiful thing of the park is the landscape. The waterfall was despite of less water very impressive and the plants in the park are manifold.

If you happen to be in the Northern Cape please visit.

The camp site were clean. and we have a few relax days

A superb venue for dramatic landscapes, scenic hikes, and superb birding.

My wife and I recently camped for two nights at Augrabies Falls National Park, whilst on a three week road trip in South Africa. The campsite has a peaceful and pleasant atmosphere with excellent facilities. Lots of Rock Dassies and birds made for some fun and easy photography. Apart from the Dassies, I got great close-up photographs, in the campsite, of the Village Weaver, Red-eyed Bulbul, ad Glossy Starling, but saw plenty more birds while out walking. A troupe of monkeys kept us entertained in the campsite - the youngster's antics often hilarious to watch. We did a very early morning walk to the falls, which was great - especially as no one else was around. That morning was a solar semi-eclipse - and I had great fun photographing the sun: a bright orange disc, but like a biscuit with a bite taken out. The light was superb and I got great photos of the gorge and waterfall. Another walk later that day took us to Moon rock. This spectacular granite whale-back hill rises out of a lunar landscape carved with jagged rocks - as far as the eye can see - and was one of the great highlights of the entire road-trip for me. The park has a lovely swimming pool and a wide range of accommodation options. There are also several long drives through the park, and some dedicated 4x4 trails as well. Take your camera and binoculars, and whether you walk or drive, you'll wish you had more time at Augrabies!

Very hot.
Roough interesting landscape
Quite small

Unique (semi-dessert), beautifull, majestic (the canion and falls) and a must.

Scenery: Absolutely beautiful. It is unique - a must see. The falls and canyon is majestic.
Weather: In December it is quite warm (45 Celsius degrees), but this allows for different activities such as swimming. Although warm the weather was pleasant.
Wildlife: Unique to other parts in South Africa. You really have to search for wildlife in this semi-dessert area, but when you find something it is worth the search.
Accommodation: We went camping. The facilities were good for camping and every evening we enjoyed sitting next to a camp fire, feeling part of nature. Baboons, "dassies" various and kinds of less dangerous wildlife strolled through the camp site. There are 2-3 swimming pools and every morning and evening we watched the sun coming up or setting over the canyon. The colours at this time of the morning or evening are beautiful.
Transportation: We had our own transportation. I would recommend traveling in groups, because when you get engine problems or a puncture, it might be a problem to be alone in the semi-dessert and almost deserted area. Also have enough water with you in the heat. We got a slow puncture - luckily at the camp staff assisted us to change the wheel and recommended places where we could fix the tyre.
Food: Decent. There is a small shop in which you can buy all the necessities. Don't expect a supermarket, but the shop is clean, neat and the food is good. The shop have all the basic household, food, magazines and cleaning stuff. There is also sweets and cold drinks. everything that you could expect.
Restaurant: Not 5 star, but excellent. You will not be disappointed. There is also a bar in the restaurant if the heat gets to much. We spend all our afternoons either in the bar, having light drinks or in the swimming pool cooling down.
Highlights: The canyon and the falls (scenery), the unique wildlife that you can only expect in these area and the numerous hiking trails and viewpoints looking out over this beautiful scenery. The swimming pools in this warm weather were also a high light. A place to really get rest for your soul.

A beautiful park with much more than just the falls and the canyons. We saw many mammals and bird species on our long drives.

Beautiful scenery park with easy to find wildlife

Augrabies Falls National Park is a beautiful smaller park with fantastic scenery around the falls and the gorge. There is a lot of wildlife which is pretty easy to find and can be seen and photographed at close distance. Game such as giraffe, zebra, springbok, kudu, oryx, baboon, monkey can be found.
The accommodation in the park is good with comfortable cabins and a nice restaurant and shop. The weather in the winter time is good with nice temperatures without extreme heat. In the winter time not a lot of tourists are in the park creating some additional bush vibe
The night game drive is fun with some challenge to find animals, but is rewarding if nocturnal animals turn up under an amazing starry sky.

It has been a great experience so much to go back to visit again

I was at the Augrabies National Park twice already and I would definitely go back.
The park offers some hiking trails also unguided and you can enetr with your own vehicle on the tar and gravel roads visiting different parts of the park.
You can do night safari and it's possible the overnight stay in a lodge inside the park and campgrounds.
In the park there is an excellent restaurant and a supermarket with a bookshop.
The special feature of this park are the waterfalls of Orange River, that you can visit by yourself from the reception. There are also specially trails for disabled people to reach the waterfall.
The waterfall show is exciting and definitely worth to be also seen at sunset.
The park has many animals including oryx and giraffes, but not large carnivores, except for the leopard that is anyway very rare.
The environment is characterized by the presence of wonderful Aloe dichotomous found in lunar landscapes and incredible valleys. Of these plants it’s often possible find the nests of weavers who frantically build large apartment buildings where they live in dozens of individuals.
Visitors to the park will remain fascinated by the spectacular views of rocky deserts scattered by a particular vegetation full of colorful flowers and thorny plants.
The facilities where you sleep are beautiful and well maintained and all the others facilities offered by the park are excellent. I highly recommend the excellent restaurant where it’s possible to taste very good food.