I'm one of the lucky ones. I was born in 1977 in Cradock and the Karoo has always been the most special place in the world to me. I know its landscapes, plants and animals. That dassie over there… I can spot it within seconds. The outline of a shepherd's tree, same story. A donga: I know it's the result of overgrazing decades ago. Those sisal plants? They were plan ted to curb that erosion.
On this trip, I revisited some favourite places and had the chance to see completely new ones. Some of the people I've known since I was a student, others I met more recently. On Facebook of all places! Our commonality? A shared love of the Karoo.
The Karoo has changed since my childhood. Landowners think differently about how you can put a farm to work. Some have gone organic; others have opted for tourism. Game fences criss-cross the region and the eastern edges are being overrun by incomers from the bushveld, like warthogs. Some towns look considerably worse for wear compared to how I remember them, but others – like Prince Albert, Graaff-Reinet, Loxton and Merweville – have become cool addresses for city folk who have bought old houses, fixed them up and moved in lock, stock and Wi-Fi router.
But just because a Karoo town has a hip coffee shop doesn't mean it's easy to make a living out here. It's hard work for a farmer to fill his shearing shed with wool bales at the end of the season, and it's just as tough for a shop owner in town to turn a profit.
There are no guarantees out here. Just this: The sun will rise in the morning.
Hanover
It's a good thing the sun will rise because PC Ferreira, owner of New Holme Nature Lodge, has just put his entire guest farm onto solar power! It's not the first time PC has tackled a daunting task – it was probably way more stressful the time he reintroduced hippos to the Karoo…
New Holme Nature Lodge is just off the N1, north-east of out of Castle Lite bottles.
