VALLEY OF DESOLATION

The journey to Graaff-Reinet through Lootsberg Pass crosses mountain country where koppies give way to larger hills and escarpments. Duikers moved through the bushes, candelabra trees stood along the slopes, and the morning began with a sharp mountain stillness.

Then fog descended without warning. Thick and rolling, it closed in from all sides and reduced the road to a crawl. By the time I entered Camdeboo National Park, I thought the day might be lost. But gradually the fog opened and thin shafts of sunlight began to pass through, giving just enough hope to continue.

I had made several attempts to photograph both Spandaukop and the Valley of Desolation, and eventually realised the only true viewpoint was from the escarpment itself. Standing near the edge above the valley, with dolerite pinnacles below like helmeted soldiers, I watched as a reef of Nimbus clouds churned overhead and a band of light slipped between them, falling across the darkened stone.