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I've been reading about the recent heavy rains and floods in Namibia and that the border post at Sendelingsdrift has had to be closed. We are planning to go to the Richtersveld driving from Alexander Bay, along the river to Sendelingsdrift, where we should arrive on April 1st. Can anyone tell me whether the cross border facilities are being repaired there? What is the approximate driving time from Sendelingsdrrif to Potjiespram camp site?

Hi Denise and welcome - sure you will spent many happy interesting hours here.

I can't tell you what the current road / border crossings are like after the floods. Just beware of the road from Alex Bay to Sendelingsdrift when wet, in places it is very slippery.

From Sendelingsdrift to Potjiespram takes maybe 20 min, Potjiespram is approx 10km from Sendelingsdrift.

Have not been to Richtersveld for nearly 2 years, so I don't know the border status, but it takes half an hour about from SD to PP. There are 3 camp site clusters at PP. Take no 1 and bear right for a nice site just above the riverbank where you can swim from.

The borderpost has been washed away by floods a week ago and has been closed. It's not known when it will be open again. Apparently the complete infrastructure of the borderpost has been destroyed.

Newspaper article about the closing of Sendelingdrift (in Afrikaans)

Rough translation of the article.

The mighty Fish river (flowing into the Orange river) showed its power last weekend again when it sent a 3 metre rise in the level of the river washing away the pont service at Sendelingsdrift and making the Jan Haak road impassible as a result of heavy showers on Saturday. This was seen as a disaster for tourism there.

The Peace Parks Board, that played a big role in establishing the Ais-Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park said the border would be closed for an unspecified time.

The entry to Ais-Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park, Driegat Gate was destroyed by water. There is no sign of infrastructure. The houses that were there washed away and the notices at the gate are gone.

The rest is detail & comment.

Thank you all for your input. I also read the article in Die Republikein and the situation sounds grim. Guess we'll just have to wait & see what happens in the next month. There is also the option of going to Oranjemund and then on to Rosh Pinah on the mines road which I have heard may be opened for tourists because of the disaster, but it appears that the road leading to Rosh Pinah is also badly damaged although I'm sure that will be fixed soon. That of course means missing out on Potjies Pram but as we are actually heading for the Kaokoveld, P.P. was only going to be an overnight stop.
All comments are gratefully received.

HI

Is there anyone that can give us some advice on the pont at Sendelingsdrift and the roads when passing through the pont, as we are leaving for that area on 1 May 2008 and would like to know if its advisable to take that route or not, as we know it was closed down for a while with the heavy rains.

Please and thank you

Hi Marilize & welcome to the forum,

AFAIK the pont and the infrastructure was recently washed away by a flood from the Fish river. Maybe enquire from the park itself.

Just came out of the Richtersveld NP yesterday and can safely say that the pont is in operation again. We watched a car come across from Namibia on Wednesday afternoon. The river is not that full at the moment. Park was very busy, in fact no place was available on most of the nights we were there. This is a really amazing and different place to go for a break.

It was a lot greener than I expected it to be although this was our first time there so we can`t really compare it to anything. The roads were a lot more " 4 X 4 " than we expected them to be, which was great, isn`t that the reason we buy them! We learnt a lot on this trip and are already planning to go back, this time with our two children. One of the highlights was seeing a wild cat about 15 metres from our campsite at Kokerboomkloof, in broad daylight! It was cleaning it`s whiskers and face with its paws, just like a domestic cat would. It had an altercation with a mongoose, which it won, needless to say the mongoose only plucked up the courage to show it`s face the next day again. We were lucky enough to get a campsite there before they closed the bookings because the toilets are not working. That brings me to the lowlight of the trip - opening one of the toilets and finding it full of someones` beer tins and cider bottles amongst other rubbish. This type of toilet does not function when this type of rubbish is thrown into them. Those people who behave like this should be ashamed of themselves because they are preventing other people from seeing one of the most beautiful places on earth ( those who have been there will know what I am talking about). We are currently at Mokala on our way back to KZN and I will post some pics and other info and stories when we get back home.

Thanks Dave ... we have a party of 6 due there in September for 4 days and I've been checking the pontoon situation over the last several weeks. Good to get a clarification all is well again as we hope to head that route through to Keetmanshoop and the Kgalagadi.

Just a friendly reminder to all who wants to go throught the border post at Sendelingsdrift... please make sure before you leave that the pond is operating.

Currently the Orange river is flowing very strong and the pond closed.

Where can i get the information if the pont works or not? We are visiting RTP In May 09...does anybody have a contact number or email adress?
Thanks Guagu

The pont operates from 7h30 to 16h30 depending on the river conditions and the weather. The contact number is 027 831 1506. Cost is R150 per vehicle up to six people. If you spend a night in the park it costs R100. If you have a trailer its an extra R200. This includes the border post tariff. These are 2008 rates so maybe they are a bit more now. Hope this helps.

Good info Dave Moore! I saw people on the other side of the river, apparently the Nam border was closed due to the pont not operating and I was was not sure if those people knew about it since they waved hectically at us? We could not hear them though...

Charlie out for now