Travel guide to Upington, Lower Orange

Upington is considered the commercial and agricultural centre of Gordonia, a remote district in the Northern Cape that stretches from the Orange River up to the border of Botswana. Formerly known as Korannaland, this far-flung corner of the Cape Colony was a wild and uncontrolled borderland in the mid-19th century. The customary mission station was, however, founded in 1871 at a fording point in the Orange River and the settlement that evolved around it was later named Upington. As part of the Green Kalahari, Upington and its hinterlands prove to be a popular destination for 4x4 enthusiasts eager to take on dunes and salt pans. It is also from here that tourists might visit the nearby Spitskop Nature Reserve. Alternatively, those up to the challenge can travel further north to the infamous Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, the first of Africa's unfenced freedom parks and a 3.6 million hectare wildlife sanctuary that stretches into both Botswana and Namibia.