Category Archives: Karoo National Park

More snaps from our summer days in the Karoo National Park

The Karoo National Park, a perennial favourite of ours, was the first major destination on our recent “summer trek” through the national parks and nature reserves of the Western and Eastern Cape Provinces. The Karoo’s landscapes may be harsh, and its inhabitants equally tough, but there’s no denying that having so much open space around you has a very special allure.

During our visit I posted a few photographs on a daily basis to give those following along on our travels a glimpse of what we were experiencing. Let’s start this recap with those.

The Karoo National Park has two major game-viewing loops accessible to visitors without a 4×4. The shortest of those is the route through the Lammertjiesleegte between the rest camp and the entrance gate. Along the way, the Bulkraal Picnic Site is a nice place to stretch your legs and look for habituated birds to photograph.

Karoo National Park’s Rest Camp is a delightful oasis in this thirstland, and besides being a safe and comfortable place for humans to spend the night it is also a magnet for a range of wildlife!

The longer of the Karoo National Park’s all-access game-viewing loops is called Potlekkertjie, and incorporates the ingeniously constructed Klipspringer Pass. This beautiful drive has something to offer driven at any time of day, but is best enjoyed slowly early in the morning or late in the afternoon, when the sunlight catches the surrounding mountains and glades so beautifully. Halfway along visitors can have a picnic at secluded Doornhoek.

DeWetsWild is proud to be a contracted reservations agent for the Karoo National Park, so whether you’d like us to assist you with a reservation to visit on your own or would like us to include the Park in a guided tour arranged specifically for you, please don’t hesitate to reach out!

Our 2024 in Pictures

Join us as we reminisce about the places DeWetsWild visited while exploring Southern Africa’s wild places in 2024!

May 2025 be a year to remember for all the best reasons. Happy New Year, everyone!

Summer Trek – Karoo National Park, 17 December 2024

Today was our final day exploring the Karoo National Park; tomorrow we’re moving to another destination (stay tuned to find out which!)

Summer Trek – Karoo National Park, 16 December 2024

The Karoo National Park is such a harsh environment, and yet there is so much beauty on every scale!

Summer Trek – Karoo National Park, 15 December 2024

A hot summers day in the Karoo National Park today delivered some more wonderful wildlife encounters.

Summer Trek – Karoo National Park, 14 December 2024

The summer holidays are upon us here in South Africa and we Wild De Wets are starting off our trek through the Western and Eastern Cape with a few nights in the amazing Karoo National Park.

Karoo Menagerie

The Karoo National Park is an incredibly diverse conservation area, despite its arid nature, and while the flash floods is undoubtedly the part of our December 2022 visit to this park we will remember most vividly, the Karoo still dished up so much more for us (which it usually does)!

Remember that DeWetsWild can assist you with reservations in the Karoo National Park if you are planning a visit to this special place. During our December 2022 visit we slept one night in chalet 17 – an open plan unit with kitchenette, bathroom, two single beds and a sleeper couch – in the main camp. We also enjoyed two wonderful meals in the restaurant, and bought a few gifts and snacks in the amply-stocked shop.

Chalet #17 in Karoo National Park, December 2022

Experiencing a flash flood in the Karoo National Park

The Karoo National Park, located as it is in the semi-desert Great Karoo, usually receives very little rain – the town of Beaufort West on its south-eastern border receives an average of only 236mm (9.3 inches) annually. It was therefore a real thrill for us – even if it meant we were cut-off from our accommodation in the main rest camp for a while – to experience the wonder of a torrential downpour passing over the arid plains in several waves following each other in quick succession, and the flash floods and rainbows that followed in their wake, when we visited the national park in December 2022.

Remember that DeWetsWild can assist you with reservations in the Karoo National Park if you are planning a visit to this special place.

Our 2022 in pictures

Join us for a look back at the wonderfully wild South African destinations we visited during 2022. May 2023 be a blessed year for you and your family, memorable for all the best reasons.

Karoo Thunder

Today we were awed by the power of several thunderstorms following each other over the plains and hills of the normally arid Great Karoo, as well as by the flash floods and rainbows that followed in their wake.