Vaalbos National Park: The Vaalbos National Park
is an extraordinary area along the Vaal River where wildlife such as black rhino, white
rhino, buffalo, eland, red hartebeest and tsessebe are to be seen in the former heart of
the the alluvial diamond diggings near Kimberley. A tourist route, built with material
from the diamond diggings using local labour, winds through the park, exposing visitors to
all facets of its three different ecosystems as they merge together as one. The name
Vaalbos originates from the vaalbos (camphor bush), a prominent plant species in the park.
The largest part of the vegetation of vaalbos consists of Kalahari thornveld invaded by
Karoo, while a small section along the banks of the Vaal River consists of the false
Orange River Broken Veld. One of the interesting features of the Vaalbos is the interface
of two biomes, namely the Savannah Biome and the Nama-Karoo Biome that meet in the
Gras-Holpan section. The most common tree in the park is the tree the park has been named
after, Vaalbos, the camphor bush.