I AM glad to hear the Camdeboo National Park now boasts a tented camp and a camping ground.
This gorgeous piece of Karoo wilderness almost completely surrounds Graaff-Reinet and we paid it a fleeting visit some time ago, during a three-day stay in the town they call the Jewel of the Karoo. Then, there was no accommodation available within the national park. Now Bill and I look forward to returning there sometime to pitch our tent in the new camping ground and to explore it more thoroughly.
A fairly new addition to the South African National Parks (Sanparks) stable, the Camdeboo National Park incorporates the well-known Valley of Desolation. The park’s conservation history goes back to 1939 when this valley, a strange and rather other-worldly geographical feature, was declared a National Monument of geological and scenic significance. However, much of what is now the park was used as commonage for many years and was severely over-grazed and degraded. This led to erosion, bush encroachment, spekbook destruction and a complete altering of the veld type.
Since the proclamation of the Karoo Nature Reserve in 1976 and its subsequent renaming and elevation to national park status, great effort has gone into the rehabilitation of this valuable and varied slice of the Karoo. Many animals that once were at home on the wide plains have been re-introduced. Programmes to heal the erosion and to rid the park of alien invaders are well underway and the veld is now carefully monitored.
The park has plenty to offer visitors. The 1,5km mountain top Crag Lizard Trail takes about an hour to complete, is not too arduous and is well worth the effort. It is a circular walk that skirts the Valley of Desolation, in places offering different perspectives of the rocky towers and plains – and a close encounter with the varied Karoo Mountain vegetation. A lucky walker might even spot a crag lizard, sunning itself on a rock
A 24-km game viewing road network takes the visitor through spiky thornveld and flat, sun-bleached ground, sparsely covered with scrawny grasses and low-growing, scrubby vegetation. Amazingly, this parched land supports a wonderful array of flora and fauna, including more than 40 mammal species and at least 225 different birds.
There is an educational and conference centre, an outdoor boma for tour groups and delightful picnic sites, all equipped with braai facilities. As well as the Crag Lizard Trail, the national park offers the Eerstefontein day walk, divided into 11km, 5km and 15km routes. Overnight accommodation at the Waaihoek hut is available to hikers doing the longer Driekoppe trail. Nqweba Dam, on the outskirts of Graaff Reinet, has also been incorporated into the national park and provides fishing and water sport facilities.
We spent a wonderful day exploring this new park and were impressed with all we saw. However, the overriding memory I have of my too-short visit is of seeing the amazing Valley of Desolation:
We have heard so much about the strange valley and are looking forward to seeing it. All the same we are unprepared for its grandeur. Bill and I are simply blown away by its strange and dramatic beauty. Massive red dolorite columns, wrought over millions of years by the twin tools of volcanic action and erosion, rear into the blue Karoo sky like citadels of some futuristic city. They frame an almost idealised view of the pastel, bossie studded Camdeboo plains and flat-topped mountains. The immensity of this strange rock formation is amazing. What a national treasure it is.
Any visit to the Valley of Desolation would be a wonderful experience but I think we are seeing it at its very best, this crisp winter morning. The soft, clear light brings out the subtle reds and browns of the rock citadels, the pastel lemon, caramel and dusty rose of the plains and the lilacs and blues of the distant mountains. It is a Karoo vision that will stay with me forever.
