The Karoo is far and
away the most atmospheric of regions. This is where
one goes when one needs space and silence, or to be
alone, or to be alone with one's nearest and dearest.
This is where one goes to recoup and take stock. No
other landscape in 1he Western Cape offers as dramatic
an expanse. And, as every philosopher knows: the greater
the expanse, the greater the introspection. Here are
kop- pies in just the right places, road signs from
a bygone era and tracks undulating off into nowhere.
And on the edges of these flat- lands are huge mountains
dwarfed by dis- tance. The plants and vegetation, too,
seem dwarfed. Succulents, vygies, spekbooms, aloes.
Where some are dormant, others are flowering. Life,
they say, goes on, but the plains of the Karoo go on
forever. They will bring to your soul a sigh the pleasure
of which it had all but forgotten. |
