Tips for Upington: Wine, Brandy, and Kalahari (South Africa)

Upington is the perfect starting point to explore the unique Kalahari region with its stunning landscapes and diverse wildlife. The town is located in the Northern Cape of South Africa, on the banks of the Orange River.

Traveling by plane

From Johannesburg (O.R. Tambo International Airport): regular direct flights, the flight duration is about 1 hour and 30 minutes. From Cape Town (Cape Town International Airport): regular direct flights, the flight duration is about 1 hour and 30 minutes.

The trip from Cape Town is ideally done as a road trip from Cape Town to Upington. It's about 9 hours (900 km) via the N10.

Upington is about 800 km northwest of Johannesburg. The journey takes around 8 hours via the N14.

Upington is the perfect and only larger town on the way to the Kalahari Desert, one of the oldest protected ecosystems in the world. The descendants of the San, the "Bushmen", have been surviving in the desert for thousands of years, leaving a cultural treasure of rock paintings in the landscape.

Also nearby is the Augrabies Waterfall in Augrabies Falls National Park. Both places are truly worth visiting if you are traveling in the Northern Cape of South Africa. Upington was only a stop for us because there isn't much to see here.

Generally, we found very little in terms of tourism. There is an airport, supermarkets for stocking up on supplies (especially if you are self-catering in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park or to the Augrabies Falls and the wine and brandy producers.

You can do tastings at these producers, which we also did.

We did a wine and brandy tasting at the renowned Bezalel winery with pairings. There are three options, of which we booked the one with local delicacies (available on request here).

In addition to wines and spirits, you can buy jams, olives, pestos, and much more. We took this opportunity before our return flight to shop for souvenirs for those back home. Unfortunately, port wine is not to my taste, so I stuck with wine and jam.

This beautiful hotel is located outside of Upington. Since we were only here for one night on our way back from the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and headed straight to the airport the next day, it was ideal. The location by the Orange River was lovely, and it was very quiet.

In the evening, we dined at the hotel's restaurant.

The best time to visit for wildlife observation in the southern Kalahari and the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is in May or June after the rains, when the wildlife returns to the region. In November and December, it can be sweltering hot, and you have to expect sudden thunderstorms.

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