Augrabiesfalls

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Augrabies Waterfalls National Park

IUCN Category II - National Park

Augrabies Falls, March 2008.jpg
location South Africa
surface 820 km²
WDPA ID 878
Geographical location 28 ° 35 ′  S , 20 ° 20 ′  E Coordinates: 28 ° 35 ′ 28 ″  S , 20 ° 20 ′ 18 ″  E
mark
Map of southern Africa
Setup date 1966
administration National Park Service
f2

The Augrabies Falls National Park ( English Augrabies Falls National Park ) is a nature reserve located 120 kilometers west of Upington in South Africa , which extends over 220 km² along the River Orange . The central attraction is the Augrabies waterfall, which plunges 56 m down to a width of 150 meters, as well as the 18 km long and up to 200 m deep rocky canyon that the river has eroded here.

history

The name Augrabies was given to the waterfall by the Swede Hendrik Jakob Wikar when he crossed the Orange River there in 1778. The name is derived from the San word Aukoerebis , which means "place of roaring noise". This refers to the Oranje, which thunders its water over the main waterfall.

In 1954, the City of Upington asked the National Park Administration to proclaim the waterfall a national park. After the Ministry had given the approval in principle in 1955, the Office for Water Affairs raised an objection, since the national park status would restrict the economic use of the Orange River. After several years of negotiations, the national park was finally proclaimed on August 5, 1966.

fauna

The rare subspecies of the Cape black rhinoceros has been reintroduced here. Eland antelopes , klipspringer , rock hyrax , ibex , caracal ( Caracal caracal ) can also be observed ; Coffee eagle ( Aquila verreauxii ), fish eagle ( Haliaeetus vocifer ) and Platysaurus broadleyi from the belt tail family .

photos

  • Augrabies waterfall

  • Waterfalls at high tide

  • Augrabies waterfall viewing platform

  • Hyrax warms up in the morning sun

  • Artificially laid out footpath with viewing platforms

  • Rock formation "Moon Rocks" in the Augrabies National Park

  • Twin case

marathon

Every year an ultramarathon takes place in the park with the aim of the Augrabies Falls, the Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon . In addition to the Comrades Marathon , the run, which runs over seven days and a distance of around 250 km through otherwise inaccessible parts of the park, is one of the internationally known events.

Web links

Commons : Augrabies Cases  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
  • South African National Parks: Augrabies Falls National Park . National park administration website at www.sanparks.org (English)
  • Wikar, Hendrik Jacob. 1955, Reisen am Oranje 1778/9: Report of Hendrik Jakob Wikar von Gothenburg to the governor Baron Joachim van Plettenberg (strange adventurous journey on the Oranje 1778 and 1779) . African home calendar, 26, pp. 91–116.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Augrabies Falls National Park - Fauna and Flora
  2. ↑ Dirk Cloete makes it a desert hat-trick , accessed on May 22, 2012.
  3. ↑ Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon , accessed May 19, 2016.