The northern edge of the Camdeboo Plain is located within the park. This plain forms a large basin that is sharply dissected by the Sundays River and its tributaries, the Vöel, Melk, Klip and Swart rivers. The Nqweba Dam, on the Sundays River, also lies within the park and covers 1 000 hectares when full. Camdeboo National Park is broadly split into two main sections – a main game viewing area, and the Valley of Desolation. Arid to semi-desert conditions prevail throughout. Much of the landscape is typical of the Karoo, with dolerite sills capping steeply sloping sandstone koppies. Deep alluvial soils are subject to erosion on the valley floors. The park’s vegetation is transitional between the characteristic scrub of the Great Karoo and the typical thornveld and bush clumps of the Eastern Cape, which accounts for the considerable diversity of veld types found here. The vegetation on the lower slopes of the mountains, especially the north-facing slopes, comprises dense stands of succulent mountain scrub characterised by spekboom. Extensive overgrazing by merino sheep since the middle of the 19th century has resulted in the conversion of sections of grassland into karroid scrub.
Camdeboo National Park has been ranked as an IBA site due to the large roost of Lesser kestrel near the town’s railway station, the numbers of Ground Woodpecker which occur in the kloofs and rocky gorges, and the Karoo plains which support flocks of the regal Blue Crane. Apart from these birds, the reserve supports roughly 250 species across its diverse array of habitats. The lowland karroid plains are particularly good for bustards, and Camdeboo National Park is one of the few areas in South Africa where Kori, Ludwig’s and Denham’s Bustard all co-occur. Also look for Karoo Korhaan in these open, stony areas – usually seen as 2 or 3 birds together. Blue Korhaan is, however, surprisingly absent. Dry plains in the main game viewing area should also be searched for the delightful Rufous-eared warbler – which prefers low shrubland – though its habit of hopping or dashing across open areas with tail-cocked may give the impression of a rodent!
The Acacia riverine woodland is good for Namaqua Warbler, Layard’s Warbler, Grey Tit, Fairy Flycatcher, Pririt Batis and the highly gregarious Scaly-feathered finch. Pale-winged Starlings are inhabitants of rocky areas, especially around the Valley of Desolation, along with Cape Rock-thrush. Natural springs are the best place to wait for seedeaters, in particular Red-billed Firefinch, White-throated & Black-headed Canary.
The Nqeba Dam is occasionally visited by small flocks of Greater and Lesser Flamingo and both Baillon’s Crake and African Grass Owl have occurred historically. Other notable species include the Glossy Ibis, Great Crested Grebe, and an assortment of waterfowl. The muddy edges support impressive numbers of Palearctic migrant waders in the summer months.
Birds-of-prey are common throughout the reserve. Pale Chanting Goshawk is especially conspicuous, usually perched atop trees or telephone poles. The impressive Verreaux’s Eagle is also regularly sighted, especially from the Valley of Desolation where several pairs are known to breed. Gabar Goshawk prefer dense stands of acacia and are regularly seen hunting besides water-points.
Mammals that can be seen in the reserve include Springbuck, Cape Mountain Zebra, Cape Buffalo, Common Eland, Red Hartebeest, Black Wildebeest and Blesbuck. Numerous smaller mammals are also present – Cape porcupine, Cape fox, Bat-eared fox, Aardwolf and Aardvark amongst others. The Plain Mountain Adder has a minuscule range and is confined to the Sneeuberg near Graaff-Reinet; it may occur within Camdeboo National Park. The park supports Karoo Dwarf Chameleon, Boulenger’s Padloper, Greater Padloper, Tent Tortoise, Angulate Tortoise, Spotted House Snake, Cape Crag Lizard, Cape Thick-toed Gecko, Bibron’s Thick-toed Gecko, Spotted Thick-toed Gecko and Marico Thick-toed Gecko. The park also occurs within the range of the following species and is likely to support most of them: Cape Rock elephant Shrew, Grant’s Rock Mouse, Karoo Sandveld Lizard and Burchell’s Sand Lizard.
Key species:
Karoo Korhaan, Kori and Ludwig’s Bustard, Pririt Batis, Pale-winged Starling, Double-banded Courser
