The Karoo is a semi-desert natural region of South Africa. It’s defined by its topography, geology, climate and, above all, its low rainfall, arid air, cloudless skies and extremes of heat and cold. The Karoo also hosted a well-preserved ecosystem hundreds of million years ago, which is now represented by many fossils. The Karoo formed an almost impenetrable barrier to the interior from Cape Town so the early adventurers, explorers, hunters and travellers on their way to the Highveld unanimously denounced it as a frightening place of great heat, great frosts, great floods and great droughts. Today, it is still a place of great heat and frosts and an annual rainfall of between 50 and 250mm, though on some of the mountains it can be 250 to 500mm higher than on the plains. However, underground water is found throughout the Karoo, which can be tapped by boreholes, making permanent settlements and sheep farming possible. Read more >
Journeys: Cape Town, African Collage, Namibia Safari, Dar es Salaam