Karoo and the Valley of Desolation
Trip Start
Oct 31, 2005
1
10
15
Trip End
Dec 10, 2005
Graaf-Reinet, South Africa
Saturday, November 19, 2005
Friday night we checked into a backpackers in the town centre. After cleaning up, we headed to the local pub, following recommendation, for a steak and a beer.
The pub (No 8) was a fantastic throw-back to times long past, with a huge array of Afrikaner memorabilia (i.e. sports mementoes, team photos, signed rugby shirts, etc). All the locals were out in force and we were the only tourists; superb!
For dinner, Phillip went for an ostrich steak, whilst I tackled springbok. Both gr8. After some much needed beers, zzzzzzzzz.
On Saturday AM, we teamed up with a lone Dutch tourist and headed north of town to the Valley of Desolation
Karoo Nature Reserve
. This was a Heritage Site for...basically a pile of rocks, but spectacular. They formed a huge mass in the midst of the empty Karoo expanses; and probably feature in Geologists' wet dreams. In the afternoon, we drove round the Karoo Nature Reserve wildlife spottting, which was a gr8 experience. We were by ourselves, and had to do the fun work of finding everything. We couldn't get out of the car, and were confined to the gravel roads, but still found scores of animals.
We crawled along in the car (to avoid scaring the animals), and were rewarded with kudu, springbok, & oryx in addition to numerous others. The best moment was when the springbok ran across the road in front of us, and leaped in the air (I mean LEAPED); like electric springs, incredibly graceful.
