Prieska

Set on the south bank of the Orange River in South Africa’s Northern Cape, 242 kilometres south-east of Uppington, the historic town of Prieska is often referred to as a ‘halfway house’ for travellers en route to Namibia. The rural village is known for its unusual flora, its rich heritage and its abundance of semi-precious stones. Rare succulents adorn the landscape towards Namibia in an area known as the ‘Rock Garden Route’; the Bos Nature Reserve is filled with diverse birdlife, and the ‘Wonderdraai’ is a strange natural phenomenon: an unusual shape in the river making it appear that the river is flowing upstream. At the Schumann Rock Collection, visitors can see semiprecious stones as well as San stone implements. The wealth of historic attractions includes a fort built entirely out of tiger eye stone, a memorial garden, and many others.