Karoo Roads III takes you roaming far and wide with seasoned storytellers Chris Marais and Julienne du Toit. Hear tales of love and cheese, sit with the elders of Lekkersing, find the shaggiest sheep in the country, witness angel-makers at work, read about the legends of a man who once painted the Sistine Chapel on an ostrich egg, and a band of farmers’ wives who turned a piece of Karoo veld into a world-class country school.

Discover a rock-star traffic cop, a four-legged ostrich, a couple who live in a castle, an Old School newspaperman with the highway in his eyes, and a desert bar where magic happens regularly.  

The stories the authors tell in this book reflect many of the magic elements you will find when you take that long, winding road trip into the Never-Never of South Africa. This is a celebration of the characters, past and present, who have all added their own lustre to the Karoo.

Together, let’s ramble through mountains and valleys, discover treasures in dusty old museums, walk the streets of faraway villages and, most importantly, meet the locals: a big-hearted, motley crew of guitar-playing, philosophising, wine-drinking, offbeat creatives who have become a part of the landscape, are treating each day like a newly minted gold coin, and doing the best work of their lives.

Goats do love to play King of the Castle on the Martyrsford Angora Goat Stud farm – Jansenville, Eastern Cape. Image: Chris Marais

A Kalahari deep-water wind pump at sunset – Boomskraap Farm. Image: Chris Marais

Dramatic landscape around Eksteenfontein, Richtersveld. Image: Chris Marais

Friendly face of the Richtersveld – Magrieta Cloete of Lekkersing, Spring 2007. Image: Chris Marais

One of the Stone Folk of Ongeluksloot Farm outside Nieu-Bethesda, created by Ryno Greeff. Image: Chris Marais

Restoring an old Karoo building – the Hantam Trust’s Handyman School, Colesberg, Northern Cape. Image: Chris Marais

Luané McLachlan, NG dominie in Murraysburg, Western Cape. Image: Chris Marais

Boeta Gammie riel-dancing with the performers – Williston Winter Festival, Spring 2018. Image: Chris Marais

Navigating the Great Fish River rapids at Keith’s Flyover during the annual Fish River Canoe Marathon. Image: Chris Marais

Reflection, created by installation artist Daniel Popper for AfrikaBurn 2013. Image: Chris Marais

The Tankwa Padstal, R355 between Ceres and Calvinia. Image: Chris Marais

Dries and Myalan Wiese on the parapets of their Bavarian-style castle on Kasteel Farm outside Loxton, Northern Cape. Image: Chris Marais

Cooking up a storm at the Hantam Trust’s Hospitality School, Colesberg, Northern Cape. Image: Chris Marais

Relish the true spirit of this rich and rowdy country. DM/ML

For author-signed, first-edition copies of Karoo Roads III, email Julienne du Toit at [email protected] 

‘Karoo Roads III’ book cover. Image: Supplied

In case you missed them, also read Karoo Roads: Faces, places and incredible spaces and Karoo Roads II, a visual journey

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