The Karoo Highlands route runs along the border of South Africa’s Great Escarpment. This large mountainous wall runs nearly parallel to the coast across South Africa, dividing coast-side lowlands from the towering central plateau of the country.
This ancient dividing line is starkly visible in the southern part of the Northern Cape, and the highlands to its north have a vastly different climate and overall vegetation mix. This is the beginning of the Karoo proper, a land of cold winters and dry years, of wildflower carpets and stargazing.
The town of Niewoudtsville is the first one after the steep ascent up Van Rhyn’s pass, a steep and beautifully winding road taking you from the Namaqualand to the Karoo Highlands.
The quant town is on the right-hand side of the road after a short but scenic drive through wildflower meadows and sheep farms. Oorlogskloof Nature Reserve and the Bantam National Botanical Garden preserve the astonishing natural and, in particular, floral heritage and are certainly worth visiting.
The Geissorhiza splendidissima or ‘Blue-pride of Niewoudtsville’ is an endemic bright-blue flower to be found in the botanical garden, and emblematic of the richness of the area and the ‘Kouebokkeveld Mountains,’ as the mountains that form this section of the Great Escarpment are known.
A further drive down this winding route will bring you to the ‘Karoo-Victorian’ architecture and Dutch Reformed Churches of Calvinia. Succulent lamb, friendly townspeople, and rugby matches are all on the weekly agenda, and visitors to the area can certainly experience Karoo hospitality here. Calvinia is the largest town in the area and traces its roots back to 1750 when the first European-Afrikaners settled alongside the Khoisan tribes that have lived there for millennia. The many ornate churches in the town are reminders of this history, as is the Calvinia museum.
Touring the remote corners of South Africa brings one to some of the best places in the world from which to gaze at the stars.
The two flagship telescopic projects in South Africa, the MeerKAT Radio Telescope and SALT, or South African Large Telescope, are both within throwing distance from the town of Sutherland in the Karoo Highlands.
Scientists and space lovers worldwide are drawn here, with SALT being the largest standalone optical telescope in the Southern Hemisphere. For this reason, Sutherland is known to South Africans as the coldest town in the country and as the place to go for stargazing. This quiet town is nestled among sheep farms and telescopes, quite a distance away from neighboring towns or cities, and reachable only by beautiful passes and roads. In recent years, it has built up a healthy competitive relationship with Matjiesfontein, another beautiful town across the provincial border in the Western Cape, which is now attracting the attention of stargazers and astronomical enthusiasts of their own.
Though not strictly on the Karoo Highlands Route which runs from Niewoudtsville to Victoria West, Matjiesfontein is mentioned here because of its singularity - visiting the town truly feels like a step back in time. The Victorian architecture of the town’s main road is beautifully grand and maintained, with Victorian-style hotels, pubs, restaurants, and train trips all available for visitors to enjoy. The town is small, but holds a rich collection of stories of years gone by, and experiences that bring these stories to life. The train track through the Karoo stops here, and train-lovers are encouraged to enjoy some of the many train experiences that start here.
