Valley of Desolation


Camdeboo, 19th of August 2018 – When we wake up, the sun pierces through an opening in the curtains. It is as if someone shines with a flashlight on the wall. Our room at Drostdy is a tastefully renovated ‘freed’ slave cabin. Not only the indigenous black population had to do slave labour, also people from nowadays Angola and India were imported to work. I need further reading on the complex history of slavery in South Africa. We drive to Camdeboo National Park, just outside of Graaff-Reinet. Every year 100 000 people visit this park in the Eastern Cape Karoo. The rangers take their check in and check out procedure very seriously. Poachers try everything to get into the parks, even the official way. They use false identities, stay behind and go for the rhino horns and elephant tusks. The volcanic dolerite columns are 200 million years old and are in stark contrast with the endless flat Karoo behind. There is a tarred road to the top of the Valley of Desolation and the views from here are superb. On our hike, there is a very strong east wind and an extra layer of clothing is necessary. The area reminds me of Monument Valley in the U.S. but even more desolate. In my vivid imagination, I see Afrikaner Trekboere in their wagons driving through this uninviting landscape, in search for a place to settle in liberty.

Valley of Desolation (FDC)

Drostdy, Graaff-Reinet (FDC)

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  1. Ann2 oktober 2018 om 14:30

    Love the pics and also your writing style! Great adventures are behind us but also ahead of us! Stimulates me to keep up my personal blog.

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