South Africa, for many, it means lions, impalas, giraffes, penguins, whales, or it reminds us of Nelson Mandela and his movement against apartheid or, again, it can make us think of the good wine produced, the famous Garden Route, the Table Mountain in Cape Town, at the Cape of Good Hope.
True, South Africa is all of this, but it is more and more. There are landscapes, areas, paths that are still unspoiled, little known, not yet invaded by tourism and, for this reason, often even more fascinating.
Today I would like to tell you about the Karoo, a spectacular area about one hundred kilometers from the ocean coast where you will certainly find yourself enchanted in front of mountainous massifs with incredible colors, deep kanyons, wonderful panoramic routes and ostriches! Yes, indeed ostriches!
It is said that the Queen Elizabeth I of England e Maria Antonietta they were great admirers of ostrich feathers, so much so that the hunt for these animals became more and more practiced, thus putting the animals in question at risk of extinction. Thus, a French trader proposed a reward to those who managed to breed and reproduce ostriches in captivity. In the seventies there was a new boom in the interest in these animals, whose skin was used for the creation of bags and wallets and whose meat began to be appreciated for its goodness and nutritional value. The Karoo seemed a very suitable area for the available lands, theplenty of water present and for thealfalfa cultivated.
Fortunately, then, the Karoo managed to still remain quite far from the light pollution present in many other areas of the earth; walking in the middle of the night it is an unforgettable experience, which you can hardly say about be paid. Above your head you can admire thousands and thousands of stars, it almost seems to have been catapulted into another galaxy! The area was considered so suitable for sky observation that, on September 2005st, XNUMX, it was inaugurated the largest optical telescope in the southern hemisphere, with a diameter of about 10 meters.
There are many places to sleep, from hostels to bed and breakfasts to families who often offer to host you at reasonable prices.
