INFORMATION ABOUT THE KAROO FOR YOUR BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE WILDERNESS AREA THAT YOU WILL BE ADVENTURING INTO:

The Karoo ’Aukarob "Hard​veld"​ is a semi ​desert ​ ​natural region ​ of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its extent is also not precisely defined. The Karoo is partly defined by its topography, ​geology ​ and 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 x​ erophytic​ vegetation consists of a​ loes​, ​mesembryanthemums,​ c​ rassulas​, ​euphorbias​, stapelias​, and ​desert ephemerals,​ spaced 50 cm or more apart,and becoming very sparse going northwards into ​Bushmanland ​ and, from there, into the ​Kalahari Desert.​ The driest region of the Karoo, however, is its southwestern corner, between the ​Great Escarpment and the C​ ederberg-Skurweberg mountain ranges​, called the ​Tankwa Karoo​, which receives only 75 mm of rain annually. The eastern and north-eastern Karoo are often covered by large patches of grassland. The typical Karoo vegetation used to support large game, sometimes in vast herds.The Karoo is distinctively divided into the Great Karoo and the Little Karoo by the ​Swartberg Mountain Range​, which runs east-west, parallel to the southern coastline, but is separated from the sea by another east-west range called the Outeniqua–Langeberg Mountains​. The Great Karoo lies to the north of the Swartberg range; the Little Karoo is to the south of it. Great KarooThe first European settlers landed in the Cape of Good Hope in 1652, and between 1659 and 1664, made several unsuccessful attempts to penetrate the Great Karoo from the south-west.The Europeans who first entered the Great Karoo did so from the south-east (traveling north from A​ lgoa Bay​), which is slightly less arid than the western Karoo These were the t​ rekboers​ of the mid-1700s, who led a nomadic existence, enduring great hardships in the relentless aridity, the intense heat (such that even their dogs could not walk on the scorching ground and had to be lifted into the overcrowded wagons), and the bitter cold in winter, especially at night. Before that time, the only inhabitants were the K​ hoe​-speaking clans migrating through the area, and !​ Ui​-speaking peoples, who lived in small family groups and, it is believed, remained largely in their own "territories", killing their own game, and gathering bulbs and roots and drinking from a spring or other water source within their territory. Sometimes these territories were very large and the family group moved from one part to the other. Their only domestic animals were dogs.The N​ tu​-speaking agriculturalists to the east of the Great Karoo did not occupy this arid region due to the scarce rainfall which prevented the farming of cattle. Sunset in the Great Karoo, near Sutherland, showing a multi bladed windpump, which has made permanent settlement and farming possible in this thirsty land. These windpumps are as iconic of the Great Karoo as are the flat-topped Karoo Koppies. In 1854, ​Daniel Halladay​ invented the multi bladed w​ indpump ​ (windmill) in the USA. It was perfected in 1883, and soon South Africa (and elsewhere) produced them in large numbers. These windpumps transformed the Great Karoo, making permanent settlement and stock farming (predominantly sheep)possible over large parts of the Karoo for the first time.Like the Karoo Koppie, the multi bladed windpump became an iconic feature of the Great Karoo. Sheep farming and the fencing off of the land have meant that antelope numbers have dwindled significantly, and with them, the big carnivores. Leopards still occur in the mountains, but lions now only occur in nature reserves, where they have been recently reintroduced into the Great Karoo. The Lord Milner Hotel in M​ atjiesfontein​, in the Lower Karoo, next to the Matjiesfontein railway station, on the railway line from Cape Town to Johannesburg. In 1872, construction was started to connect the ​Cape Colony​'s coastal railway system with the ​diamond fields ​ in ​Kimberley,​ The new line started in W​ orcester and entered the Lower Karoo through the H​ ex River valley,​ where it followed a course almost midway between the Swartberg Mountains to the south and the Great Escarpment to the north. Along the way, it passed through the quaint Victorian village of Matjiesfontein​, with the historic Lord Miner Hotel, which is still operational today. The railway reached this point in 1878, before proceeding to Beaufort West at the foot of the Great Escarpment. From there, it reached the top of the African Plateau near Three Sisters along a valley with such a low gradient that passengers were (and still are) hardly aware that they were ascending the Great Escarpment. From there it continued through the Upper Karoo, to ​De Aar,​ and crossed the Orange River at H​ opetown,​ where South Africa’s first diamond, the ​Eureka Diamond,​ was found. The Orange River, at this point, forms the local unofficial boundary between the Great Karoo and the Highveld. The only sharp and definite boundary of the Great Karoo is formed by the most inland ranges of C​ ape Fold Mountains ​ to the south and south-west. The extent of the Karoo to the north is vague, fading gradually and almost imperceptibly into the increasingly arid Bushmanland ​ towards the north-west. To the north and north-east, it fades into the savannah and grasslands of ​Griqualand West ​ and the Highveld.The boundary to the east grades into the grasslands of the Eastern Midlands. The Great Karoo is itself divided by the Great Escarpment into the Upper Karoo (generally above 1200–1500 m) and the Lower Karoo on the plains below at 700–800 m. A great many local names, each denoting different subregions of the Great Karoo, exist, some more widely, or more generally, known than others. In the Lower Karoo, going from west to east, they are the ​Tankwa Karoo​, the Moordenaarskaroo, the Koup, the Vlakte, and the ​Camdeboo Plains​. The Hantam, Kareeberge, Roggeveld, and nuweveld are the better known subregions of the Upper Karoo, though most of it is simply known as the Upper Karoo, especially in the north.Turning north from the N1 between Touws River and Beaufort West, at Matjiesfontein​, the road ascends the Great Escarpment through the V​ erlatenkloof Pass​ to reach ​Sutherland​, at 1456 m above sea level, which is reputedly the coldest town in South Africa with average minimum temperatures of −6.1 °C during winter. There’s the grim story about a police officer called Van der Colf, who patrolled the area looking for stock thieves. Apparently he would tie his captives to his horse and make them walk to jail. In his book Timeless Karoo, Jonathan Deal writes: “When Van der Colf became bored, and perhaps a little drunk, he would release the prisoners to run away up a hill — and take potshots at them with his rifle, sometimes with deadly consequences. Deal also describes another series of violent events that could have given the Moordenaars Karoo its name. In the 1770s, there was a farm foreman who lived next to the Sak River (near present-day Williston), who shot Bushmen indiscriminately. When the Bushmen retaliated and murdered the foreman, a commando was sent from the Cape to punish them. Many innocent Bushmen died in the revenge attack. After the commando returned home, Bushmen across the Great Karoo started to plunder farms and murder farmers. Another punitive commando was sent out. Revenge attack upon revenge attack followed and more and more Bushmen perished. Fauna of The Great Karoo used to support a large variety of ​antelope ​ (particularly the springbok​), the q​ uagga,​ and other large game, especially on the grassy flats in the east. Francois Le Vaillant​, the famous French explorer, naturalist, and ornithologist, who traveled through the Great Karoo in the 1780s, killed a h​ ippopotamus​ in the Great Fish River in the Karoo (and ate its foot for breakfast). He also recorded that he saw the spoor of a r​ hinoceros ​ near Cranemere, in the ​Camdeboo Plains​ (eastern Lower Karoo). ​Elephant tusks have been found by farmers in the Camdeboo district, but no records exist of any having been seen alive in that region.The quagga roamed the Karoo in great numbers together with w​ ildebeest ​ and ​ostriches​, which always seemed to accompany them.These quagga seemed gentle and easy to domesticate. (A pair of quagga was used to draw a horse carriage through London, more for curiosity than for any superiority the quagga might have had over a horse.) They were consequently also easy prey for hunters, who hunted them for sport rather than their meat.By the middle of the 1800s, they were almost extinct, and in 1883, the last one died in an Amsterdam zoo. Probably the strangest and most puzzling zoological phenomenon in the Great Karoo was the periodic, unpredictable appearance of massive springbok migrations.These migrations always came from the north, and could either go west towards Namaqualand and the sea, south-west through towns such as B​ eaufort West​, or south through the Camdeboo district. These vast herds moved steadily and inexorably across the plains, trampling all before them, including their own kind. Le Vaillant gave the first eyewitness account of such a migration in 1782.He rode through the herd filling the Plains of Camdeboo, seeing neither the beginning nor end of the moving mass. In 1849, a massive herd of springbok, amongst which were intermingled wildebeest, blesbok,​ quagga, and e​ land,​ moved through Beaufort West. Early one morning, the town was awakened to a sound like that of a strong wind, and suddenly the town was filled with animals. They devoured every sprig of foliage in the town and surrounding countryside. The last of the continuously moving herd left the town 3 days later, to disappear towards the west. The Karoo looked as if a fire had swept through it. During these migrations, the plains and hillsides on every side were thickly covered by one vast mass of springbok, packed like sheep in a fold. As far as the eye could see, the landscape was alive with them. During these migrations, the springbok never ran or trotted. On the whole, they were silent, except for the shudder of their stamping hoofs. Nothing could divert them, and hunters could ride amongst them, shooting them at random, without apparently causing alarm. People could move amongst them and kill them with sticks, or cripple them by seizing a leg and breaking it. Not only people followed these herds for the easy meat they provided, but also l​ ions​, l​ eopards​, ​cheetahs,​ A​ frican wild dogs,​ ​hyenas,​ and ​jackals ​ preyed on them. No one knew how, why, or where these migrations started, nor where they ended, nor did anyone know if these animals ever returned to where they had started. The migrations were always unidirectional, from north of the Great Karoo.Great locust swarms also frequently invaded or arose in the Great Karoo, and still occur from time to time today.The riverine rabbit​, a critically endangered animal, lives exclusively in seasonal river basins and a very particular set of scrubland in the central semiarid region in the Karoo. It is hunted by ​falconiformes​ and V​ erreaux's eagles​. Its numbers have been consistently lowering due to destruction of its habitat.They are unique relative to similar species through how they are polygamous and how each female can only produce one or two offspring per year. The introduction of the windpump to tap the Great Karoo’s underground water resources in the late 1800s made permanent human habitation and sheep farming possible over large parts of the Great Karoo for the first time.As a result, the teeming number of large antelope in the Karoo has dwindled into insignificance, and with them, the large carnivores have all but disappeared. Today, the c​ aracal​ (7–19 kg),b​ lack-backed jackal​ (6–10 kg),​Verreaux's eagle ​ (3.0–5.8 kg) and the m​ artial eagle​ (3.0–6.2 kg)are arguably the largest predators likely to be seen in the Great Karoo today. L​ eopards​ (20–90 kg) do occur, especially in the mountains, but are very secretive, so are rarely seen. Little KarooThis area was explored by European settlers in the late 17th century, who encountered the Khoisan people as the original inhabitants of this area. The latter called the Swartberg Mountains kango meaning "a place rich in water".The C​ ango Caves​ in the Swartberg Mountains are named after this Khoisan word.

The Little Karoo, and especially Oudtshoorn, became synonymous with the ostrich-feather industry in the 1880s.The resulting "feather millionaires" built Victorian "Feather Palaces" all over town, using the red rocks belonging to the Enon Conglomerate, and related Kirkwood Formation, to build them.These grand red palaces and other buildings in Oudtshoorn can still be admired today. A railway line was built to connect Calitzdorp and Oudtshoorn, to Willowmore and from there, via Klipplaat, to P​ ort Elizabeth,​ from where the ostrich feathers from the Little Karoo’s ostrich farms could be exported to Europe. The Swartberg Pass was built, with convict labor, between 1881 and 1888 by ​Thomas Bain​, son of the famous A​ ndrew Geddes Bain,​ who built B​ ain's Kloof Pass​ and many others in the Western Cape. The main motivation for building the pass was to provide an all-weather road connection between the southern Great Karoo, and Oudtshoorn (and from there to the sea).The two alternative roads, through the ​Meiringspoort ​ and the Seweweekspoort defiles, were subject to periodic flooding, after heavy thunderstorms in the Great Karoo. The Swartberg Pass is not tarred and can be treacherously slippery after rain. It also becomes impassable after heavy snowfalls on the mountain, a not infrequent occurrence in winter. Sutherland is home to the S​ outhern African Large Telescope,​ the largest optical telescope in the Southern Hemisphere.To the north, still on the Plateau, and 75 km north-west of Carnarvon​, seven radio dishes form part of the S​ quare Kilometer Array​ which will, 2500 in total, be scattered in other parts of South Africa and Australia, to survey the southern skies at radio frequencies. Our ​galaxy​, the M​ ilky Way,​ one of the main targets of this enterprise, is best viewed from the Southern Hemisphere.The Upper Karoo is indeed an ideal site for an astronomical observatory. This is not only because of the clear skies, absence of artificial lights, and high altitude, but also because it is tectonically completely inactive (meaning that there are no fault lines or volcanoes nearby,and no earth tremors or earthquakes​ occur, even at great distances). The Little Karoo is separated from the Great Karoo by the Swartberg Mountain range. Geographically, it is a 290-km-long valley, only 40–60 km wide, formed by two parallel Cape Fold Mountain​ ranges, the S​ wartberg ​ to the north, and the continuous Langeberg​-O​ uteniqua​ range to the south. The northern strip of the valley, within 10–20 km from the foot of the Swartberg mountains is least karoo-like, in that it is a well-watered area both from the rain and the many streams that cascade down the mountain, or through narrow d​ efiles​ in the Swartberg from the Great Karoo. The main towns of the region are situated along this northern strip of the Little Karoo: M​ ontagu​, Barrydale,​ ​Ladismith​, C​ alitzdorp,​ ​Oudtshoorn,​ and D​ e Rust​, as well as such well-known mission stations such as Z​ oar​, A​ malienstein​, and D​ ysselsdorp.​ The Little Karoo can only be accessed by road through the narrow defiles cut through the surrounding Cape Fold Mountains by ancient, but still flowing, rivers. A few roads traverse the mountains over passes, the most famous and impressive of which is the S​ wartberg Pass ​ between Oudtshoorn in the Little Karoo and P​ rince Albert​ on the other side of the Swartberg mountains in the Great Karoo. Also, the main road between Oudtshoorn and George, on the coastal plain, crosses the mountains to the south via the O​ uteniqua Pass​. The mountain zebra occurred in the mountain regions of the Cape Fold Belt and along the southern portion of the Great Escarpment. Thus, they were endemic to, amongst others, the western Lower Karoo and the Little Karoo. However, they were hunted to near extinction, leaving fewer than 100 individuals by the 1930s. Conservation efforts since then brought their numbers up to 1200 by 1998, mainly by concentrating these zebra in nature reserves and protected areas, the most well-known of these being the ​Mountain Zebra National Park​ near C​ radock​ in the Great Karoo. Cape mountain zebras are still found in protected areas managed by Cape Nature, including the Kamanassie and G​ amkaberg Nature Reserves.​ The ostrich is found throughout Africa, but the most handsome specimens came from the Little Karoo, where the dry weather, but plentiful water in the streams formed an ideal habitat for these large, flightless birds. Here, they grow to over 2 m in height, and weigh over 100 kg. The male’s feathers have been prized by many cultures in Africa, Europe, and Asia over thousands of years. In the 1860s, a farmer in the G​ raaff-Reinet​ district was apparently the first person to demonstrate that the ostrich could successfully be domesticated, bred in captivity, and the eggs hatched in incubators, while still producing the magnificent feathers. This idea was quickly adopted by farmers in the Little Karoo, where they started growing lucerne as the birds' favorite food. During 1880, no less than 74,000 kg of feathers were exported, and in 1904, it passed the 210,000-kg mark. The First World War brought about a slump in the ostrich feather market, but the industry recovered in later years, when not only the feathers were sought after, but also ostrich leather, and its meat, which is very tasty, and a major export item. Today, several farms can be visited by tourists, near Oudtshoorn, the center of the ostrich industry. Two separate and independent Karoo ​biomes,​ or botanical regions, of South Africa bear the name Karoo: the S​ ucculent Karoo​ to the west of green line, and the Nama Karoo to the east. The Great Karoo and Little Karoo lie almost entirely within two of South Africa’s eight botanical ​biomes​,namely the S​ ucculent Karoo biome​ and the N​ ama Karoo biome.​ The Succulent Karoo biome runs along the ​West Coast​, from approximately L​ amberts Bay northwards to over 200 km into southern N​ amibia​. It starts in the south just north of the Sandveld ​ geographical region, about 250 km north of Cape Town, and continues through Namaqualand​, the R​ ichtersveld​, immediately south of the O​ range River​, and on into the Namaqualand or Namaland region of southern ​Namibia​. None of these regions is ever referred to, either geographically or locally, as "Karoo". However, it has a major extension inland into the T​ ankwa Karoo​ and Moordenaars Karoo regions of the Lower Karoo. The Succulent Karoo biome is dominated by dwarf, leafy-succulent shrubs, and annuals, predominantly A​ steraceae​, popularly known as Namaqualand daisies, which put on spectacular flower displays covering vast stretches of the landscape in the southern spring-time (August–September) after good rains in the winter. Grasses are uncommon, making most of the biome unsuitable for grazing. The low rainfall, in fact, discourages most forms of agriculture. An exception is the thriving

ostrich-farming industry in the Little Karoo, which is heavily dependent on supplementary feeding with ​lucerne​.The difference between the Succulent Karoo biome and the Nama Karoo biome is that the former receives the little rain that falls as cyclonic rainfall in winter, which has less erosive power than the infrequent but violent summer thunderstorms of the Nama Karoo. Frost is also less common in the Succulent Karoo biome than in the Nama Karoo biome. The Nama Karoo biome is located entirely on the central plateau mostly at altitudes between 1000 and 1500 m.It incorporates nearly the whole of the historical and geographical Great Karoo, but also includes a portion of southern Namibia's Namaqualand, and South Africa's Bushmanland It is the second-largest biome in South Africa,and forms the botanical transition between the ​Fynbos biome ​ to the south and the savannah biome to the north. It is defined primarily by the dominance of dwarf (less than 1 m high) shrubs with a codominance of grasses especially towards the north-east and east where it grades into the grassland biome of the Highveld and the Eastern Midlands.The shrubs and grasses are deciduous, mainly in response to the irregular rainfall. Overgrazing exacerbates the erosion caused by the violent thunderstorms that occur, infrequently, in the summer.

Verlorenvlei Heritage Settlement is situated in the Piketberg District, South Africa. 32°19’ S 18° 23’ E. The settlement consists of surviving Langhius structures in what was once a thriving Hamlet on the shores of the Verlorenvlei. A remnant of this sort is unique and is the reason behind the site being declared a provincial heritage site.Heritage significance The Langhius is situated on portions 18-36 of the Verlorenvlei Farm and is owned by the Verlorenvlei Heritage Settlement and Nature Reserve Home Owners Association. The Verlorenvlei has attracted the attention of researchers from a number of disciplines such as archaeology, botany, zoology, ecology, geology, architecture and ornithology.The Verlorenvlei settlement is regarded as a unique remnant of a particular way of life, with a distinctive architectural style which has developed from the first permanent buildings which were erected in the late 18th Century. The wider area is associated with extremely significant archaeological sites like Elands Bay Cave which have contributed to a greater understanding of the development of the human species. This gives the area both pre-colonial and post-colonial heritage significance. Clanwilliam which contains many rock art and rock engravings sites and the meggamiddens found at Mussel Point. History of the site

House at Verlorenvlei Heritage Settlement, Elands Bay The farm was a loan place since 1723 and was leased to a various farmers until the land was granted to Michiel Johannes de Beer in 1837 who later sold it to Theunis Erasmus Smits in 1883. In the 20th century various houses on the farm were occupied by Smits, Coetsees, Kotzes, Mosterts and others.The distinctive architectural style of the house developed at the mouth of the Verlorenvlei, it is considered to be different from what is known as a ‘classic’ Cape Farmhouse which is typically a thatched T or H house with a gable above the entrance.The first buildings in the area were built in the late 1770s, later a large Hamlet developed around them during the 19th century when there was boom in grain and fish production. Many smaller houses were built around the main large house by the extending family members to form a settlement. Very few of these houses have survived.

View across the vlei from the Heritage Settlement The Verlorenvlei itself is a significant estuarine system in the Western Cape. The importance of the vlei has led to it being recognised as a wetland of international significance and was designated as a Ramsar site on the 28 June 1991. Provincial heritage site

House at Verlorenvlei Heritage Settlement, Elands Bay The Verlorenvlei Settlement was declared a p​ rovincial heritage site​ by the provincial heritage resources authority, ​Heritage Western Cape ​ on the 23 September 2014 in terms of section 27 of the National Heritage Resources Act. The site is hence a Grade II heritage resource and is formally protected under South African heritage Law.

Elands Bay is a town in ​South Africa,​ situated in the W​ estern Cape Province​, on the Atlantic Ocean.​ The town is located about 200 kilometres (two hours drive) north from Cape Town​. It is a world class surfing location and is also noted for its caves, which have a number of rock paintings. In 2009, ​Heritage Western Cape ​ declared the E​ lands Bay Cave​ and most of Baboon Point (Cape Deseada), on which it is located, as a provincial heritage site. Eland's Bay along with much of this coastline is an "important" bird habitat. The local wetland, Verlorenvlei, is a Ramsar ​ wetland.

List of mammals found in the Karoo:

● Aardvark​/Antbear (Orycteropus afer) ● Aardwolf​ (Proteles cristatus) ● Southern African wildcat ​ (Felis lybica) ● Bat-eared fox ​ (Otocyon megalotis) ● Black-backed jackal​ (Canis mesomelas) ● Cape fox ​ (Vulpes chama) ● Cape golden mole​ (Chrysochloris asiatica) ● Cape hare​ (Lepus capensis) ● Caracal​ (Felix caracal) ● Chacma baboon​ (Papio cynocephalus ursinus) ● Four-striped grass mouse ​ (Rhabdomys pumilio) ● Gerbil mouse (Malacothrix typica) ● Grey duiker ​ (Sylvicapra grimmia) ● Grey rhebok ​ (Palea capreolus) ● House mouse ​ (Mus domesticus) ● Karoo bush rat (Otomys unisulcatis) ● Klipspringer ​ (Oreotragus oreotragus) ● Kudu ​ (Tragelaphus strepsiceros') ● Leopard ​ (Panthera pardus) ● Meerkat​ (Suricata suricatta) ● Cape porcupine ​ (Hystrix africaeaustralis) ● Ratel/​honey badger ​ (Mellivora capensis) ● Rock dassie/h​ yrax​ (Procavia capensis) ● Scrub hare ​ (Lepus saxatilis) ● Small-spotted genet ​ (Genetta genetta) ● Springbok​ (Antidorcas marsupialis) ● Steenbok​ (Raphicerus campestris) ● Striped polecat/z​ orilla​ (Ictonyx striatus) ● Yellow mongoose ​ (Cynictis penicillata)

Birds found in the Karoo include:

● Acacia pied barbet ● African black swift ● African hoopoe ● African pied starling ● African pipit ● African red-eyed bulbul ● African reed warbler ● African snipe ● Alpine swift ● Avocet ● Barn owl ● Barn swallow ● Black-chested snake eagle ● Black-eared sparrow-lark ● Black harrier ● Black-headed canary ● Blacksmith lapwing ● Black stork ● Black-winged stilt ● Bokmakierie ● Booted eagle ● Brown-throated martin ● Burchell's courser ● Cape bulbul ● Cape bunting ● Cape clapper lark ● Cape penduline tit ● Cape shoveller ● Cape spurfowl ● Cape weaver ● Capped wheatear ● Chestnut-vented warbler ● Southern fiscal ● Common quail ● Common waxbill ● Double-banded courser ● Dusky sunbird ● Egyptian goose ● European bee-eater ● European starling ● Fairy flycatcher ● Familiar chat ● Greater flamingo ● Greater honeyguide ● Greater kestrel ● Greater striped swallow ● Grey-backed cisticola ● Grey-backed sparrow-lark ● Grey heron ● Grey tit ● Grey-winged francolin ● Helmeted guineafowl ● Jackal buzzard ● Karoo bustard ● Karoo chat ● Karoo eremomela ● Karoo lark ● Karoo long-billed lark ● Karoo prinia ● White-necked raven ● White-rumped swift​ ● Willow warbler ● Yellow-bellied eremomela ● Yellow-billed kite ● Yellow canary