Sure Travel Journey Vol 5.1 Summer 2019 | Page 39

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© AVNI/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
© TEAGAN CUNNIFFE/GETAWAY
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Houseboat life on the Vaal and the awe-inspiring Valley of Desolation.
© TEAGAN CUNNIFFE/GETAWAY
4. STAND ON THE EDGE OF THE
WORLD IN THE EASTERN CAPE
It’s the unexpected that often leaves the
greatest impression on us.
Driving up from the entrance gates at
Camdeboo National Park, we had no visual
reference for the views ahead before we
rounded the last curve of the road and
first glimpsed the Valley of Desolation.
Impossibly tall dolerite columns stretched
to the sky before the escarpment dropped
off sharply, with the small town of
Graaff-Reinet backdropped by the Great
Karoo in the distance.
We parked the car and started the
45-minute Crag Lizard Trail, watched by
the scaly black reptiles themselves, before
arriving at the first viewpoint. Before me
were rows of red rock, 130 metres tall
and clustered together to form an island.
Starlings flitted between the columns, bird
song echoing through the valley between
us. A rock slipped off the edge where
we stood, clattering down in a seemingly
eternal fall. Clouds shifted and the sun
flared, saturating the rocks with colour.
Gradually, the other tourists left until
it was just us, the setting sun and
200-million-year-old rocks looking down
on the aptly named valley.
THE DETAILS: Camdeboo National Park
is five kilometres from Graaff-Reinet,
a town filled with heritage buildings,
quirky restaurants (try Polka Café) and
a grand Dutch Reformed church. Walk
the Valley of Desolation from R39 per
adult for entrance.
MAKE MEMORIES FOR LIFE // 3 9