3 Best Sights in Graaff-Reinet, The Eastern Cape

Home to the Valley of Desolation, and some 43 different mammal species, this game-viewing area covers 19,000 hectares (46,950 acres). You may see the endangered Cape mountain zebra, or catch a glimpse quizzical bat-eared foxes, see klipspringers bounding over rocks, and can spend time in the Kwelimanzi hide if you're especially interested in birds. There are a few picnic areas in the park as well as some hiking trails that vary in length and difficulty. 

The entire protected area can be explored by car, on foot (the Crag Lizard walking trail is just under a mile and starts at the Valley of Desolation parking lot), or even by mountain bike (cyclists from Graaff-Reinet can be seen puffing up the reserve's inclines most mornings). Summers are very hot (plan your visit in the early morning or late afternoon) and winters can be very cold. 

This astonishing cactus and succulent specialty nursery is worth getting lost in for a while, as its expansive garden wends and winds like a fantastical maze among thousands upon thousands of spiky plants and quirky sculptures and animal skulls. Johan Bouwer, a retired lawyer with eccentric tendencies and very strong, colorful opinions on just about everything (including American politics—you've been warned), started his cactus collection in about 1960. The garden, which is believed to house over 2 million plants and around 5,500 different species (some of them extremely rare) is the result of a relentless obsession and unfettered passion. 

Within Camdeboo National Park, these tall, slender dolerite towers stand some 150 meters (492 feet) tall, rising from the valley floor like russet-colored sentinels at attention, as they have for around 200 million years; in the background, the Sneeuberg mountain range is simply sublime. The scene is extraordinary, and it's no less mystifying any time of day, but try to time your visit for sunset as the rock towers glow crimson in the softening pink light of the Camdeboo dusk. There are a few picnic areas.