The Camdeboo National Park is a short distance from Ganora so we could make a leisurely start. In summer, of course one wakes up early so leisurely does not necessarily mean late. The problem tyre was down to 1.4 bar. It is much easier to change wheels in a nice flat campsite than next to the road so we decided to do it before we left and it was done in no time. Then we stopped at the house to say goodbye and bought meat from Louis's "butchery". He had a freezer full of vacuum packed pork and lamb and his prices were very reasonable. It was sad to say goodbye to Ganora. Marianne and I have stayed there many times, on tours, student trips and privately and tried to put a number to them without success. The gravel road from Ganora to the N9 was as lovely as ever winding through the Voor Sneeuberge mountains and then dropping quite dramatically to a broad flat plain with the Sneeuberge proper in the far distance. It was quite strange to be back on tar and we quickly dropped through the Naudesberg Pass and Goliatskraal se Hoogte to see Graaff Reinet and the almost empty Nqweba Dam (Van Ryneveldspas Dam) in the distance. The entrance to the National Park is before the town. We had been a bit concerned about finding space in the campsite, but need not have worried. What was disappointing was that the Driekoppe 4x4 route was damaged by rain and the Waaihoek rustic camp site was closed as a result. The Koedoeskloof 4x4 route was however open. We started our park exploration by driving the perimeter roads in the game viewing area around the lake, making an early coffee stop at the bird hide which was now so far from the water that there was little to be seen. Despite the dryness we did get to see quite a few animals in the game viewing area. A shocking thing was seeing a bakkie coming the other way with the driver, presumably a father with children in the car, with a drink in his hand, almost falling out of his door as he closed it when pulling off. At 10h00 in the morning! From there we drove across to the western side and headed for the Koedoeskloof 4x4 route. Neither of us had gone this way before, previously always turning off to the Valley of Desolation. Although called a 4x4 route, I expected it to be as I had found the routes in other parks with only an occasional difficulty. But I did lock the hubs! It soon became necessary to go to 4 wheel drive as it got to be quite rocky and rough. We did get to see some handsome kudu bulls and it certainly justified the name of the kloof. We startled a huge herd of zebra at a unexpected waterhole. It was a magnificent sighting, but sadly we were taken by surprise and did not manage to take any pictures. At an old farm dam and now a very attractive watering point for animals, there was a sign warning one not to ascend in wet conditions or when rain was threatening. It was very dry, but there were lots of threatening thunderstorm type clouds around. We were a bit cautious, but decided to carry on. From here the road was low range 4x4, very rocky and driven out with some very steep bits that given the rough conditions, needed first gear low range. I could see that it would be tricky if it was wet as there was lots of clay that could be very slippery. Marianne was wondering if we should turn, but turning would be more difficult than going on. The cruiser was not having any trouble, but Marianne said it was definitely a good sports bra road! We stopped just before the top where it was easy to turn around and walked on to the lookout. It was now getting tense as the clouds were getting heavier and it looked as if it might rain at any time. So I went to look at the picnic site and Marianne ran to the viewpoint over the plains stretching into the distance towards Aberdeen and the route to the Kalkkop Crater that we hoped to find the next day. One also got an unexpected and very interesting view of the Valley of Desolation cliffs and the Spandaukop from there. A loud clap of thunder made us rush back to the car and we quickly retreated! Low range made going down easy and we were soon back at the waterpoint. It was a perfect stop for lunch with lots of birds attracted by the water. We startled a beautiful kudu that had come down to drink and it did make us feel a bit guilty. We got out the stove and treated ourselves to jaffles. There was only some light drizzle so decided to explore the old Koedoeskloof track. This was much easier and just went a short distance up an attractive kloof ending at an old wind pump. We stopped at where there must have been an old farm, but only the stone kraal walls remained. I salvaged an old spring from the wind pump, which was falling apart. As we got back to the entrance gate and the tar the heavens opened. We were quite relieved to be off the mountain road as such heavy rain would have made it very slippery very quickly! The afternoon plan was to go to have a look at the eastern side of the Park. Although it was closed the lady at reception had said we were welcome to go there and had given us the gate lock combination. In Graaff Reinet we made a quick shopping stop at the Spar and then went to look for the gate. It wasn't as easy as it had seemed and we ended up going through an informal settlement and to the wrong gate. Retracing our route we eventually got to the correct gate in Kroonvale. As it was now quite wet (although the rain had stopped) we decided to stick to the flatter areas of the Driekoppe Trail and found the track to be quite passable although it was slippery on the uphills and quite overgrown at one point - loppers are essential equipment in the future. There were a lot of mountain tortoises walking about and we had to move some off the road. Marianne drove back from our turning point and we got out the gate again at about 17h30. It had been fun to explore and a must to come back to. Now it was back to the campsite. There were only about five sites occupied and we got one close to the ablution block. The fire was soon burning, but it started to rain so we got the cover over the back door and braaied under an umbrella. We discovered that water still does not flow off the cover of our self-made rear awning (although it has improved) and I got soaked trying to adjust it. But Louis's pork sausage was excellent and we enjoyed our last braai on the road for a while. Marianne made good use of the camp kitchen for hot water and washing dishes. After supper the rain stopped and we went for a walk around the nearly empty campsite. We came across a very tame scrub hare near the fence and wondered whether this was the same one we had met on our previous visit? We also heard jackal calling. Although everyone seemed to be keeping to themselves and social distancing properly we were very careful, as this was the first time we had camped near to others since the Karoo National Park. We got to bed with it drizzling slightly and hoped for better weather for our last day.

Geschreven door Leartravels