Our goal is to explore every national park in South Africa. And as part of our May/June 2021 road trip, we checked off a couple of first park visits, including Camdeboo National Park in the Eastern Cape Province.

We stayed two nights in the Lakeview Tented Camp, but didn’t see the water of Nqweba Dam because of low rainfall.

A highway divides the 19,000 hectare park. The small game viewing area in the eastern portion features several varieties of animals and a few of the 250 bird species that nest in the park. 

We explored just a bit of the west side’s Valley of Desolation, including stopping at viewpoints and taking a walk on the Crag Lizard Trail to enjoy the panoramic vistas of the Karoo plus see the tall dolorite columns.