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What it means to belong to a Karoo town

What it means to belong to a Karoo town

There is no agreed period after which a newcomer becomes local. Ten years are enough in one town and barely an introduction in another. Some people are absorbed quickly because they participate without trying to dominate. Others are still outsiders after decades of residence.

The invisible worlds of Karoo koppies

The invisible worlds of Karoo koppies

Some of the vast Karoo's richest stories are found in its smallest spaces. A koppie looks bare from a distance, but up close it's a vibrant neighbourhood, crowded with lives that depend on the shelter of stone.

How the wool boom changed the Karoo farmhouse

How the wool boom changed the Karoo farmhouse

The Karoo farmhouse is a domestic archive and a reminder that even the most isolated home was connected to a much wider world.

A beginner’s guide to Karoo stargazing without expensive equipment

A beginner’s guide to Karoo stargazing without expensive equipment

The best approach is to begin small. Learn the Southern Cross and follow the Milky Way. Notice how the sky changes from month to month. The Karoo will do the rest.

The reading culture behind the Karoo’s literary festivals

The reading culture behind the Karoo’s literary festivals

Karoo literary festivals connect contemporary books with a much older culture of storytelling. They might seem like a recent addition to Karoo life, but they reflect a region that has long used words to cross distance.

What makes a place Karoo?

What makes a place Karoo?

Perhaps the most accurate definition is that the Karoo begins wherever dryness becomes the organising fact of life: where water determines settlement, distance defines community and people learn that survival depends not on conquering the land, but on understanding its limits.

How the Tankwa came to host two very different communities

How the Tankwa came to host two very different communities

The encounter between AfrikaBurn and the farming Tankwa should not be reduced to farmers watching strangely dressed outsiders drive past their gates. The more interesting story is that the same environment has produced two different expressions of independence.