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The air feels thick. The wind, like sandpaper against skin. Everywhere a dense white blanket swallows the horizon, masking the sun. This is the ‘Ihuries’ or ‘malmokkies’ as the local people call it. A name given to the mist that now coats the valley. Brought in from the West, and caused by the collision of cold and warm air currents, the fog travels inland from the Atlantic. Much like the silence before a storm, it brings with it a stillness and a promise of life. Soon the fog will lift. Life that had been put to bed, now wakes to the warm embrace of the white-hot sun. Behind rapidly vanishing clouds, a barren landscape turns from white to red. The sand, offspring from colossal boulders–children of ancient mountains making their journey on the back of the wind–carpet the earth in a copper glow. Rusted from years of oxidation, these microscopic grains of iron oxide evoke a mars-like terrain. But unlike our scarlet neighbour, life here still prevails. This is the Richtersveld Transfrontier Park. It’s a tricky place to get to. The roads are tough with deep sand and rocky ascends. Steep climbs wind between mountainous landscapes of volcanic rock–some an estimated 2000 million years old. It’s a place of dirt and dust. And of breathtaking beauty. Situated in the north-western corner of South Africa’s Northern Cape, the area seems desolate. Temperatures can reach well into 50° and with an annual rainfall of only 68 mm, water is scarce. Life hangs in a delicate balance. The sea air from the Benguela–thick with water–interacts with the hot dry desert air, giving rise to powerful currents and dense fog. Paradoxically these violent tides that bring life-giving water, have caused many sailors to lose their way and shipwreck on Namibia’s Skeleton Coast up North. The park is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to the Nama people–the last survivors of the indigenous Khoikhoi or San people still practicing a traditional way of life. With their survival rooted in the natural environment, the nomadic locals manage to make a home for themselves and their livestock in an area bereft of common comforts. Together with South African National Parks, they are the keepers of the park. Astonishingly, more than 4000 plant species (nearly half of them endemic) have been recorded in the Richtersfeld. As a transitional zone between the coastal Succulent Karoo eco-region and the drier Nama Karoo, it is said to be the only arid biodiversity hotspot on earth, providing a habitat to specimens found nowhere else on the planet. Towards the north of the park lies Kokerboom Kloof. A plateau between giant boulders with majestic views across the valley. The name, which translates to “Quiver tree valley”, is derived from the vast amount of quiver trees–an endemic species of endangered tree aloe–dotting the landscape. Due to their slow growing nature and difficulty to cultivate elsewhere, the trees are extremely rare. The indigenous people who called it “choje”, used to hollow out the branches to make quivers for their hunting arrows, which gave rise to its common name. When the sun has put its rays to bed and pulled night across the sky, the heavens come alive with stars. Here you can dip your imagination in the colourful milky-way and dream of Shamans reading stories in the wind and dancing in the shadows if the spirits. With life prevailing against the odds it’s easy to be present here. The vastness of the surrounding nature overshadows one’s existence–the immensity of the universe at the same time louder and more silent than one’s thoughts. Other than ablutions, the park does not offer many amenities. Visitors must be well-equipped, with enough provisions of food, water, basic medical supplies, fuel and spare tyres. The Richtersveld Transfrontier Park is where you go, to disconnect from the hustle and bustle of the man made world. To rely solely on what nature provides and to find comfort in the discomforts of living simply.