Camdeboo National Park, Eastern Cape

Camdeboo National Park is situated on the outskirts of Graaff-Reinet in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.

The park stretches over 19 405 hectares and practically surrounds the town of Graaff-Reinet. The Nqweba Dam is found within the park and when full covers approximately 1 000 hectares. The largest section of the park lies at the foothills of the Sneeuberg Mountains. The Camdeboo Park has unbelievably scenic beauty and provides its visitors with an insight into the unique landscape of the Karoo. The Karoo is arid, semi-desert country and therefore the plant composition is influenced by the rainfall. Three classes of vegetation that can be found here are shrubland, dwarf shrubland and succulent thicket.

Camdeboo supports a variety of wildlife with four fish species, forty three mammal species, of which 11 are rodents and 13 carnivores, and almost 250 species of birds. Game animals regularly sighted by visitors include springbok, blesbok, steenbok, black wildebeest as well as the Cape Zebra and Klipspringer in the more mountainous areas. The Bat-Eared Fox and Meerkat are fascinating to watch and often seen throughout the Park. The most common birds in the game viewing area are Chanting Goshawk, Rock Kestral, Speckled Mousebird, Titbabbler, Brownhooded Kingfisher and Cardinal Woodpecker. The Ostrich is a fine example of a bird adapted to the life on the plains and it can travel up to 32 km per day.

Visitors are asked to please stay in their vehicles in the game viewing areas and advised to leave the area in the event of heavy rainfall, in order to avoid getting stuck in flash floods.

Things to do and see

• Game drives
• Valley of Desolation
• Picnic Sites
• Nqweba Dam
• Game Viewing
• Hiking Trails
• 4 x 4 Trails
• Watersports
• Environmental Education Centre

The Park is managed by the South African Parks Board, SANParks.

Admission

Rates and Tariffs vary between R16 and R85 per person, per day. Please contact the park directly to confirm pricing.

Gate Times

January & February, 06h00 - 16h30

March, 06h00 - 19h00

April, 06h30 - 18h30

May, 07h00 - 18h00

June, 07h00 - 17h30

July & August, 07h00 - 18h00

September, 06h30 - 18h30

October, 06h00 - 19h00

November, 06h00 - 19h30

December, 06h00 - 20h00

Climate

Rainfall occurs mainly in the autumn months, with March seeing the highest levels. Winter nights can drop below freezing.

Summer months, November to March will have average temperatures of between 11˚C and 30˚C.

Winter months, May to August will have average temperatures of between 2˚C and 16˚C.

Transport

There are flights into Port Elizabeth International Airport, from all major cities in South Africa, on a daily basis. Car hire facilities are available and the airport is approximately 264 km from Graaff-Reinet. 

Contact details

Tel: +27 (0)49 892 3453

Fax: +27 (0)49 892 3456

Email

Website