Known for its wide-open spaces, the Cape Karoo is where you want to go when the pace of city life is something you would like to escape. This is where you go to get off the grid.
A place of incredible beauty, wild game, clear skies and magical sunsets, the Cape Karoo has a number of Nature Reserves and game farms, boasting an abundance of wildlife. The Karoo National Park, for example, is home to black rhino, lions, and other wild game.
Another animal in abundance in the Karoo is sheep, who roam ‘freely’ around the area on large plots of land, sampling a wide range of indigenous, aromatic plants. As a result, the Karoo has become famous for its succulent and tasty lamb dishes.
Beaufort West, the largest town in the arid Great Karoo region, is known as the “Capital of the Karoo”. It is the centre of an agricultural district based mainly on sheep farming. Next door to Beaufort West is the Karoo National Park – a sanctuary for herds of springbok, gemsbok (or Oryx), Cape Mountain zebra, red hartebeest, black rhinoceros, eland, kudu, klipspringer, bat-eared foxes, black-backed jackal, ostriches, and, since fairly recently, lions.
Cape Karoo Towns to visit: Murraysburg, Laingsburg, Matjiesfontein, Prince Albert, Leeu Gamka, Nelspoort, and Beaufort West.
Attractions: c, Laingsburg Flood Museum, Lord Milner Hotel (Matjiesfontein), Swartberg Pass, Meiringspoort, Seweweekspoort and many more.
