New Adventures

It has been just over a year since I left for the Karoo (Karoo been a Khoisan word meaning “land of thirst) to live on a farm for 3 months. The Karoo holds hot summer days and extremely cold winter nights. The place I stayed at was about 46kms away from any form of civilization. Although we think those small little towns are so backward and behind in the times they are true gems filled with rich heritage and history. Knock on any resident’s door and they will tell you great stories of the history of their town.

The Splendid Karoo

The Karoo is made up of a whole group of towns; some of the towns are Aberdeen, Cookhouse, Graaff-Reinet, Jansenville, Nieu-Bethesda, Pearston and Somerset-East. The Karoo has wild vegetation and beautiful mountain passes. I always say that even though the interior part of South Africa doesn’t have the ocean, the Karoo has other things to make up for it. Like breath-taking sunrises, sunsets and these fluffy marshmallows looking clouds. All those things make up for not having an ocean to dip your toes in. Spending an afternoon lying on the grass watching the world go by, almost feeling like if you had to lift your hand up to the sky you could pull the cloud down. The crisp fresh air is what the Karoo has on offer. You drive for miles before you see any form of life, almost like watching your dog run away for days before he really disappears. You get a view of amazing plant life, thousands of different species of plants plus the Karoo is actually famous for the largest variety of succulents. Above all these things I have mentioned the bird life is incredible a true bird watchers dream.

Be Adventurous in the Karoo

There is nothing better than taking a break from the concrete jungle and finding yourself getting lost in amongst the openness of nature. I personally feel that sometimes because we stuck in the rut of our 9 to 5ers we don’t appreciate and know about what’s out there. We need time to explore. Even though we get stuck in a rut, we should make a plan to get out there and experience what we can. The word adventure is key because ever place you travel to should be an adventure. There is always interesting and exciting things to find in places you have never been to before. Yes, I know the Karoo can’t be marked off your list of top 10 attractions you would like to see but there’s nothing like a breath of fresh air.