Burke’s Pass takes one through the mountains south of Springbok, in the Northern Cape, to Kamieskroon – the tiny dorp that is more NG Church than it is town. The beauty of the bare granite against red soil, and the stubbly yellow grass and shrubs lining the pass, an indication of the heat on the N7.

This is Namaqualand. Dry it might be for most of the year, but it rains here in winter, and in spring it flowers. Everywhere.

Burke’s pass is tarred, one of the few passes in the Northern Cape that is as easy for sedans to navigate. It is a popular pass as a result, not only for the spring flowers but also as passage to the Namaqua National Park just west of the N7 – to reach the park one must peal off the N7 not far from Burke’s Pass.

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