The Central Karoo is the Western Cape's land of great thirst.
Under a relentless sun, it is a parched sea of endless plains
stretching to empty horizons. Yet, it is an enchanted land,
hiding rich treasures beneath its wide, desolate spaces.
The area's treasure is its system of fossil-bearing rock strata
preserving our prehistory. When the mighty Karoo edifice was
being fashioned, huge volcanic eruptions intruded the earth
with molten dolerite which cooled into strange, palaeolithic
forms.
About 250 million years ago, the land was buried under a mantle
of ice. After some 115 million years, the ice receded and it
became a richly vegetated area, frequented by dinosaurs as a
popular dining spot. 135 million years later, weathered in nature's
forge of fire and ice, only the ancient dolerite sheets capping
the wasteland's distinctive, flat-topped koppies remain.
Needless to say, the dinosaurs left some time ago to make way
for merino and dorper sheep.
When the sun's giant disc slips behind the world, the skies
catch fire, setting the night aflame. Great explosions of orange
and red herald the coming light of the star-struck night, bathing
the ancient, ochre earth in a cooling sea of liquid bronze.
The region has a good road network, accommodation facilities
and caravan parks and, owing to the warm hospitality of the
Karoo's openhearted people, farm holidays are extremely popular.
