Central Karoo

Journey to a place where more than 300-million years of history is recorded in stone. A place where the sound of pre-historic men and beasts is almost audible in the vast silence. Where mythology and magic co-exist in the legends and tales of an ancient people.

This is the Great Karoo. A place of pioneers and prophets. A place where winding passes stretch forever up the faces of majestic mountain ranges whose peaks pierce the perfectly blue skies in search of life-giving rain. Here the scars of millennia-old glaciers are etched into the now beautifully arid landscapes, and twisted rock formations tell tales of the movement of thousands of meters of ice across the planes as continent separated.

Be transported back in time to the larges San rock art site in the Karoo with its fascinating recollections of more than 30 000 years of history of the San and Khoi Khoi people who once called this religion home.

Lose yourself in the wide open spaces, or reveal in the simplicity of life in the many villages and small towns scattered throughout the area. Rediscover the colonial part of South Africa’s past at the uniquely British settlement of Matjiesfontien, with its London bus parked beneath the Union Jacks that adorn the entrance to the English country hotel.

Liberate your soul with a stay on a Karoo farm, and watch sheep graze lazily in the midday sun or cool off in the water reservoir fed by a squeaking windmill. Relive the life of one of South Africa’s greatest sons with n visit to the boyhood home of heart transplant pioneer Dr Chris Barnard and marvel at how far medicine has come with a tour of replica of the operating theater in which the first ever human heart transplant was performed.

Reconnect with an undiscovered world of scenic beauty and wonderful people. Surround yourself with open spaces, stretch out your arms, close your eyes, and feel the warmth of the Great Karoo wash over you.