Camdeboo National Park and the Valley of Desolation

 Monday 15/11/21

Seven years of drought have taken a toll - this lovely
wild olive, reduced to a skeleton

Although a bit closer to the main road and the locations of Graaff-Reinet than we would have liked, the campsite at Camdeboo is well laid out with large, very private plots.  We found there was only one that had any shade so we pulled straight in and erected our tent.  It was just as well this spot was free, we would have suffered in the full sun for two days as the heat was unbelievable.

I wonder if it was looking at our reflection?

On the Monday we took a drive through the park but didn't linger too long because we wanted to explore the Valley of Desolation before it was too hot, though we still managed to get a bit sunburned while exploring the fantastic site.  

Where we often complain the scenes are too beautiful for the camera to capture, here even our eyes needed more time to fully take in what we were seeing.  We had the entire place to ourselves and wandered around taking in the spectacle. Looking out over the rocks, listening to the birds singing in the valley below, watching them soaring on the wind funnelled through the rock walls was an absolute delight - we could have stayed all day.

The Karoo, stretching into infinity

We then stopped at the nearby toposcope looking out over the town of Graaff-Reinet where you get a stark image of how the small country villages (and cities) have been swallowed up by townships created to house the new inhabitants in search of better futures.  How the towns are going to cope with so many people only time will tell.  

We went into the town to get something to eat; part of the historic beauty remains but one can see that services are being overwhelmed and the town, like so many others, is struggling to cope.

The old town in the centre, flanked by the newer townships, filling the available space.

Graaff-Reinet town centre, with a beautifully maintained church

The flowering Jakarandas were fantastic!

The area, however, is stunning and we really enjoyed our time at Camdeboo.  We spent the extremely hot afternoon in the camp, spraying ourselves with water, trying to keep cool.  

In the evening we went for a stroll around the camps and came across what we thought was a toy snake, comically inflated to cartoon proportions, as fat as my calf and more than a metre long.  It was only when it moved it's head that our brains realised what we were looking at, the biggest puff-adder I have ever seen.  Unfortunately we only got a few photos as it retreated into the bush so you don't really get the full effect of it's size. 

Nothing get the heart racing like a really big snake.

Later, one of the park ranger was given a similar fight by another, only slightly smaller adder, also drawn out by the heat.  We walked very carefully to the ablution blocks that night!