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Cape > Central Karoo
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"Here, in blazing summers and icy winters, the silence is so pure you can hear god think, the stars so near you feel you have only to reach out to touch them." (Author unknown)
The name of the Central Karoo is derived from the Khoi word "Karusa", meaning dry and barren thirstland.
Yet, these endless plains and mountains have sustained human life for over 500 000 years. The visible evidence of the evolution of reptiles to mammals are recorded here in stone, estimated to be 190 to 500 million years old.
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The Karoo is the place of the pioneers. Born here in the 1800s was Dr Emil, hailed as the father of modern orthopedics.
Albert Fick did much of the pioneer work in optometry, specifically contact lenses.
Another world famous local is the surgeon who did the first heart transplant, Professor Chris Barnard.
The scenic road through Thomas Bain's famous Seweweekspoort is known as The Smugglers Route.
The vast plains and blue mountains once sheltered runaway slaves, smugglers and the banished. |
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Alongside the main road of Laingsburg are layers of fossilised mudstone and a yellow bank of volcanic ash, blown across from South America 250 million years ago.
Matjiesfontein is a little piece of Scotland in the Central Karoo that was once favoured by princes, dukes and the young Sultan of Zanzibar.
It is in Matjiesfontein that Lord Randolph Churchill picked bluebells in the hills. Author Olive Schreiner served dinner to Cecil John Rhodes in a tiny cottage which still stands. |
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The little village of Prince Alfred is a gem, with beautifully preserved Cape Dutch, Karoo and Victorian architecture.
The !Xam Bushmen once lived in the Beaufort West area and fine examples of their rock engravings can still be seen.
The town itself has a collection of interesting architecture that can be enjoyed by strolling through its historic centre. |
The Karoo National Park has the Karoo Fossil Braille Trail that was specifically adapted for handicapped visitors, depicting the geology and paleontology of the Great Karoo.
Hardy plains animals like rhino, springbok, klipspringer, kudu, eland hyrax, Hartman’s mountain zebra, bat eared fox and fallow deer call this harsh and beautiful land home.
The quagga is a zebra-like animal that became extinct in 1883, when the last mare of the species died in Amsterdam Zoo.
Today it is again roaming free in the park. It was recreated from portions of its genetic code present in tissue samples taken from a mounted museum exhibit. |
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