The Orange River offers wonderful desert adventures, particularly multiday rafting trips

The long, final stretch of the famed Orange River is a truly memorable region of white-water rapids and sweeping river bends, deep gorges and intense desert colours, and rare plants and animals. It’s a side of Southern Africa that relatively few experience, but it invariably leaves indelible memories.

Where is the Orange River? And what makes it special?

The Orange River is the longest river in Southern Africa. It starts in Lesotho in the Maloti-Drakensberg mountain range and runs west for around 2,432 km (1,511 miles) before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean. The final 500 km (310 miles) or so of the river sees it become the border between southern Namibia and northwest South Africa.

It’s this final section of the river, which runs through the Kalahari Desert, that is a major hub for tourism.

Why?

Well, the region is a highly remote one of dramatic landscapes and rich colours, rare wildlife and plants, and immense serenity. You’re very far from cities and towns here, so are able to explore a pristine desert ecosystem while having the luxury of a river to dip into whenever you get too hot. (The Orange River has no dangerous animals like crocs and hippos in it.)

What more, the part of the Orange River protected within South Africa and Namibia’s Ai-|Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park is one of the Top World Heritage Sites in Southern Africa. It’s protected for its natural as well as cultural value. Firstly, there’s the exceptional biodiversity of the desert, which is home to an astonishing array of succulents and endemic plants. Secondly, the local Nama people lead a semi-nomadic lifestyle that’s believed to have remained largely unchanged for perhaps two millennia.

Why the Orange River is a major adventure tourism destination

The Orange River is a fantastic rafting and canoeing destination, not least because it lets you explore a remote desert landscape in a very economical and environmentally friendly way. Other great activities on offer along the river include trekking, mountain biking, offroading, and fishing. What’s more, the Orange River passes the terminus of the Fish River Canyon, an incredible bucket-list destination of its own.

A great thing about Orange River trips is that the weather is superb all year round, and the water is always warm. So you don’t really need to concern yourself with weather and seasons when planning a visit.

Let’s now chat about rafting or canoeing along the Orange River, as this is the primary activity drawing thousands to the region each year. I’ll then touch on the uniqueness of the environment, and mention the other great adventure activities you can enjoy as part of an epic overlanding adventure in the Kalahari Desert.

Rafting and canoeing on the Orange River

Given the remoteness of the Namibia-South Africa border, most people who make the effort to travel all the way here for rafting or canoeing opt for a multiday experience over a day’s outing. And the most popular spot for this is the Ai-|Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park.

I highly recommend making the time for a four- to six-day-long river excursion. This is the right amount of time, I feel, for letting yourself slip into the right mindset so that you can fully appreciate the quietude and slower rhythms of the desert-river life.

Something that’s particularly special about the Orange River is the consistent mix of white-water rapids and stretches of calm. During the calm sections, folks sit or lie back to admire the scenery as it drifts on by. When the heat starts to feel a bit much, they flop into the water and float alongside their vessels.

In some places, the river wends its way between steep-walled gorges. At other times, the valley opens up to offer far-reaching views. Observing the inhospitable desert environment from the ‘safety’ of the river is a special experience, unlike anything most of us have ever experienced.

Most Orange River trips are arranged to include just Grade 1 and 2 rapids. While there are bigger rapids, you’re usually portaged around them. That said, you can choose to include the bigger rapids if you want more adrenaline in your trip!

Camping along the Orange River

When you go on a multiday Orange River canoeing or rafting trip, you usually start and end at a bush camp. During your time on the river, however, you simply camp on the riverbank. It’s a truly immersive nature experience. And thanks to the remoteness of the park, it’s very safe.

In the evenings, your group invariably gathers around the fireplace for cooking, eating, chatting, and sometimes campfire songs. The firelight is the only light you’ll see other than that of the stars and somemtimes the moon.

What’s more, this part of the Kalahari Desert is an exceptional stargazing region. This is thanks to the absence of any smog or light pollution as well as a dry climate that creates clear skies. For many international travellers, this is a special time to admire the jewels of the southern night sky, which include the Southern Cross.

When it’s time to hit the sack, you all climb into your sleeping bags and sleep under said stars. Because who needs a tent in the desert?

The incredible vegetation and wildlife along the Orange River

As mentioned, the Kalahari’s vegetation – and that protected within the UNESCO-endorsed Ai-|Ais/Richtersveld ecosystem in particular – is incredibly biodiverse and contains many fascinating endemic species. It’s also a global hotspot for succulents.

One of these succulents is the striking quiver tree, as seen in the photo above. It earned its name because the indigenous San people, who are hunter-gatherers, use its hollowed-out tubular branches as quivers for their arrows. Then there’s also the halfmens tree, a tall, branchless succulent covered in spikes that can reach four or five metres high and has a rosette at the top that can make the whole look vaguely human-shaped from a distance. It’s also called the elephant’s trunk tree.

If you’re lucky enough to be in the region after one of its rare rains, you might also get to experience a superbloom. This is when the arid landscape becomes blanketed in small, colourful succulents known as vygies. It’s a truly showstopper sight.

Trekking and more along the Orange River

Note that you can see a great range of vegetation on an Orange River rafting trip, especially as the thin ribbons of land on either side of the river are green and have trees that can’t withstand the harsh conditions just a stone’s throw further away. There’s also time during the trip to take short hikes into the desert from the campsites to explore the desert further.

That said, if you want to see more of the vegetation – and wildlife – of the region, then you might like to consider a guided trek in the Ai-|Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park. There are 54 mammal species in the park, including Hartmann’s mountain zebras, gemsboks, and meerkats.

Alternatively, if you travel upriver a bit, you can go trekking in the spectacularly scenic Augrabies Falls National Park. The three-day Klipspringer Trail is one of a few great options that include the park’s showstopping feature: the mighty Augrabies Falls. It’s utterly mesmerising to stand on the canyon’s rim and watch the fish eagles and other raptors cruise above while your ears are filled with the sound of the water pounding into the abyss. In fact, the name Augrabies Falls apparently comes from the local Khoi word aukoerebis, which means ‘place of great noise’.

Finally, if you want to really go big, you might consider signing up for the Fish River Canyon Hiking trail. This is one of the most epic hikes in all Southern Africa. The five-day trail takes you along the base of the canyon to the tune of 86 km (53 miles). The canyon, as seen in part in the photo below, is the second-largest canyon in the world. It ends where the Fish River flows into the Orange River. So while it’s not strictly speaking an Orange River trekking trail, if you’re going to visit the Orange River, it would be a travesty to not include the Fish River Canyon in your itinerary in some shape or form.

The other adventure activities you can enjoy in and around the Orange River are fly fishing, rock climbing, mountain biking, 4×4 trails, and walking and driving safaris. With unlimited time and space I could wax on about each of these activities. I’ll limit myself here to encouraging you to pull on that string if any one particular activity takes your fancy. And let African Overland Tours know what you’re wanting, so they can help guide you in the right direction.

Let African Overland Tours plan your Orange River trip

If you’d like to go rafting on the Orange River or do some other adventure in the region, check out the range of exciting itineraries below.

Note: This blog post was first written by Bronwyn Paxton in 2024. It was rewritten by Megan Abigail White in January 2026.