Valley of Desolation to Nieu-Bethesda

The sun hadn't even touched the valley floor this morning when we drove out of the Baviaanskloof and turned north heading back to Johannesburg. We took it slowly and stopped at interesting places which we would have normally just fly past.

After breakfast at Graaff-Reinet we drove into the Camdeboo National Park and up the mountain to the Cathedral of Mountains were we wondered along trails enjoying the majestic views of the towering dolerite columns and of the Valley of Desolation below us. The Great Karoo stretched out into the distance and I imagined how the early settlers reaching this area found this semi-arid such an inhospitable place.

From Camdeboo we detoured into the Nieu-Bethesda valley which was the total opposite of desolation. Although it is in the early stages of revival, tourists are finding their way into the valley. I imagine artists, photographers and sculptors retiring here hoping to irk out a living till they die. Nice place to spend the day but I am not sure it is a place for me.

Somehow the raw beauty of the Baviaans wilderness area has burnt into my heart which the Karoo can't touch.