Mountain Zebra National Park lies in the Karoo hills just outside Cradock in the Eastern Cape, a landscape of rolling grassy plateaux, deep valleys and dolerite koppies. The park was founded to save the Cape mountain zebra from extinction, and the species still thrives here, grazing the high slopes alongside red hartebeest, eland, black wildebeest and springbok.

The main rest camp is set on a hillside with wide views over the plains, and offers comfortable self-catering cottages, a restaurant and a swimming pool. Cheetah and, more recently, lion have been reintroduced, and the park has become a reliable place to track cheetah on foot with a guide.

This is high, open Karoo, cold and clear in winter and green after summer rain. With game drives, walking trails and excellent stargazing, it makes a rewarding stop on the route between the coast and the interior.