A relatively unexplored area of South Africa must be the western region from Cape Town to the Namibian border.

Unless you are actually driving to Namibia there are very few destinations past Clanwilliam you might consider visiting. View the gallery here

Our adventure took us nine hours north of Cape Town to the Onseepkans border post between South Africa and Namibia on the Orange River. We were going river rafting for four days and five nights.

In comparison to the east coast of South Africa, I was astounded by the vast and breathtaking landscapes the west coast had to offer and especially the immense difference between the vegetation.

South Africa has seven different climates and the two you'll experience along the N7 on the west coast is completely different to that on the east coast.

Our journey took us 570 kilometres from Cape Town to Springbok, 150 km to Pofadder and a final 60km on a dirt road to the Onseepkans border crossing.

A total of 780km doesn't sound far but the N7 is long and straight.

Sometimes you won't see another car for maybe 10 or 15 minutes depending on what time of the year you travel. It's best to break up the journey into three parts, driving no more than three to four hours a day and having a chance to explore the local flavour.

Leg 1: Cape Town - Clanwilliam

This leg shouldn't take you more than three hours. Passing towns like Malmesbury, Piketburg and then Citrusdal, famous for its citrus fruits and worth a stop at one of the road side stalls.

Further along the road turn right off the N7 at the Algeria, Cederberg signpost and picnic on the beach next to the Olifants River.

Finally, Clanwilliam is home to the Rooibos Tea Natural Products and the Clanwilliam Dam.

We checked into the Clanwilliam Hotel, which offered great rates, comfortable accommodation and friendly service.

Having the rest of the afternoon to explore, we first headed into the mountains to Boskloof Swemgat, a small swimming hole about 12 km from town.

After relaxing next to the gurgling stream we headed to the Dam for some fishing and to watch the sunset.

Leg 2: Clanwilliam to Springbok

Heading out onto the N7 before sunrise means you have the road to yourself.
Following the Olifants River as it meandered along; parallel to the N7 we passed by Klawer. A charming and serene town nestled between the Matzikamma Mountains and the Olifants River, known for its wild clover.

Other delightful little towns to look out for are Vanryhnsdorp, Bitterfontein and Garies, a lonely town in the heart of flower land. Kamieskroon is named after the crown-shaped peak towering above it.

And lastly Springbok, which is a welcome relief from the lack of good ‘pad-kos' stops along the way.

Springbok is the largest town in Namaqualand and during spring this region is transformed from a barren desert landscape to a sea of wild flowers (July/September).

The nearby Paulshoek community offer a fascinating cultural experience in matjieshutte (reed huts) together with traditional cuisine. Springbok is also known for its kokerboom trees and is considered the central hub of the Namaqualand region during the busy flower season.

Leg 3: Springbok to Onseepkans

The 150 km stretch of road between Springbok and Pofadder is most probably the straightest road in South Africa.

Our travelling speed up until then was between 120km/h and 140km/h.

Without realising it, our speedometer read a frightening 190km/h. The road is also deceiving because of the mirages making it tricky to overtake not knowing if the image on the horizon is really a car and if it is how fast it's actually going.

Pofadder was our last pit stop before making the final 60 km journey to the Orange River.

Like a scene out of the movie ‘Natural Born Killers' we pulled up outside a deserted bank. Eerie as it seemed, luckily the ATM was working.

Our next mission was to find a Spar, which was open and where, it seemed, the entire community congregated.

A small farming community, lured by a perennial spring in 1889, Pofadder is in the middle of nowhere. It's named after a Koranna chief Klaas Pofadder, who was gunned down by farmers.

One of the oldest buildings in the town is the Roman Catholic Church and surprisingly Pofadder is also one of the dry and arid Northern Cape regions that become a colourful carpet of wild flowers during spring.

After a long, bumpy and dusty drive we began to wonder if sleeping out in the open for the next five nights was such a good idea and what if we died from thirst?

It was also difficult to imagine a river as mighty as the Orange could actually flow?

Reaching our final destination we were humbled by the fact that where there is water there is life. The Orange flowed hard and strong turning what seemed to be an inert wasteland into a life-giving force.