“Place of Great Noise” lives up to its name.
The Augrabies Falls in the Augrabies National Park near Kakamas in the Northern Cape was in full flood last weekend.
John Yeld captured the spectacular sight.
The Falls on Thursday evening (4 February) when water levels in the Orange (Gariep) River were still building towards the weekend’s peak.
The Falls in the dawn light on Friday, ahead of peak flow on Saturday and Sunday.
A slow shutter speed on the camera transforms Friday morning’s wild flow through the Falls into dream-like ribbons of water.
Dawn breaks over the Falls.
“Hi Mom!” Sign language is useful because conversation is all but impossible over the deafening noise. The original KhoeSan inhabitants called the area Aukoerebis, or Place of Great Noise, and the name became converted to Augrabies over time.
A rainbow forms in the dense spray.
Rising waters late on Friday afternoon break over the safety barrier.
By: John Yeld
First published on Ground Up