Karoo - wind-eroded mountain peaks - stock photo

The Karoo, a large semi-desert plateau that covers much of South Africa, from the South Khoekhoe !Orakobab or Khoemana word Aukarob "u201cHardveld"u201d. Its total extent is not precisely "ndefined. The Karoo is partly defined by its topography, geology and climate, and very much, its low rainfall, arid air, cloudless skies, and extremes of heat and cold. The Karoo comprised a unique ecosystem hundreds of million years ago many fossils are found in the area."nThe Karoo formed an almost impenetrable barrier to the interior from the southern Cape and the early adventurers, explorers, hunters, and travelers on the way to the Highveld unanimously denounced it as a frightening place of great heat, great frosts, great floods, and great droughts. An annual rainfall of between 50 and 250 mm is the norm though on some of the mountains it can be 250 to 500 mm higher than on the plains. However, underground water is found throughout the area, which is often tapped by boreholes which makes permanent settlements and sheep farming viable."nThe vegetation consists of aloes, crassulas, euphorbias, stapelias, and a variety of desert-type succulents and shrubs spaced 50 cm or more apart and becoming very sparse going northwards into Bushmanland and the Kalahari Desert. The driest region of the Karoo, however, is its southwestern corner, between the Great Escarpment and the Cederberg mountain ranges, called the Tankwa Karoo, which receives only 75 mm of rain annually. The eastern and north-eastern Karoo are often covered by patches of grassland. The typical Karoo "nvegetation used to support a large variety of game, often in vast herds."nToday, sheep thrive on the xerophytes vegetation (unbelievably, each sheep requires about 4 ha of grazing to sustain itself.