The Mid-Karoo Route meanders through the towns of Middelburg, Noupoort, Rosmead, Steynsburg and Nieu-Bethesda, highlighting a range of attractions along the way. Once a bustling centre at the heart of South Africa’s transport industry, the towns are now much quieter but still show remnants of this bygone era. Nature has now started to claim back the land, uncovering a historically rich and magnificent landscape.
The route is surrounded by dramatic mountains in the heart of the great Karoo region and is recognised for its herbal plant life, exceptional variety of scarce birdlife, the famous Teebus and Koffiebus Koppies and the Orange River Water Scheme. It is also one of few places left in the world where fossils can be found in their natural environment and numerous examples of San rock art can be viewed in nearby caves.
Reasons to visit:
The Mid-Karoo Route is home to open spaces, Karoo sunsets, star gazing, fresh air and snow-capped mountains. Author Eve Palmer’s words in ‘The Plains of Camdeboo‘ best describe the Great Karoo, its people and this Mid-Karoo Route:
“Few people have the good fortune to be born in a desert. I was. All my life I have been conscious of my luck. Not, indeed, that we of the Karoo often think of our land as desert. It is the travellers who have crossed our plateau for two hundred years, and our visitors of today, who have called it this – and still do.”
