Who we are...
The Shop
NHC draws inspiration from the legacy of the late Buys Wiese – born amid the plains of
the Knersvlakte, where his forebears had farmed since the 18 th century, this farmer’s son
went on to become a world renowned, self-taught botanist and early entrepreneur in the
Namaqualand. I called him Oupa.
He tirelessly dedicated himself to promote and conserve the extraordinary succulent
flora of South Africa. A vocal supporter of General Jan Smuts, amongst other things
also a botanist, Oupa was inspired by him when serving in the Smuts family’s private
security detail as a young police officer.
Oupa’s stories of early trade in the Namaqualand still resonates with me – traders with
ox wagons, heavily loaded with all kinds of merchandise, crossing the harsh, hot plains
of this semi desert, to trade with remote farming communities. Apart from the occasional
traders’ visits, the inhabitants of this isolated region were largely self-sufficient and
therefore ingeniously entrepreneurial.
In a similar vein, NHC in collaboration with Namaqualand’s Kokerboom Kwekery, offers
online trade of the area’s spoils.
The Origin
Namaqualand is located in the north-west corner of South Africa and extends from the Orange River in the north to Vanrhynsdorp and the Olifants River in the south - a remote area with unique landscapes, fascinating culture and captivating biodiversity of what’s been called the richest desert in the world. There are five geographic regions in Namaqualand, according to the distinctive landscape and climate of each one. From the south to the north these are the Knersvlakte with its broad flat plains, the central Hardeveld comprising granite hills, the vast sandy expanse of the Sandveld along the west coast, the high mountains of the Kamiesberg region and, in the north-west, the Richtersveld with its mountain deserts and arid plains. The Namaqualand is a winter-rainfall desert which is unusual among the other deserts of the world. The annual precipitation ranges from around 50mm on the coast to about 300mm in the Kamiesberg. Temperatures can soar as high as 45°C during summer but also drop to freezing in winter nights.
