Car Travel

From Johannesburg it is an easy 4½-hour drive (480 km/298 miles) to Kimberley on the N12 and N14; however, the trip from Cape Town is considerably longer, at 954 km (600 miles), and takes almost 13 hours. The trip from Kimberley to Upington can take another six hours. And it's another 2½ hours from Upington to Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. The drive from Upington to Augrabies Falls is almost two hours, and this leg of the N14 is excellent.

Namaqualand, however, is considerably closer to Cape Town than it is to Johannesburg. The drive from Johannesburg to Springbok, the "capital" of Namaqualand, is 835 miles and takes a little over 12 hours driving straight through with refreshment stops; from Cape Town, it's only 7 hours driving (562 km/349 miles).