--- title: "Karoo Roads IV — Freewheeling on the Frontier" description: "An exclusive preview of Karoo Roads IV – In Faraway Places, a new book of Karoo Adventures from authors Chris Marais and Julienne du Toit." type: "NewsArticle" publisher: "Daily Maverick" site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za" section: "BOOK EXCERPT" author: "Chris Marais and Julienne du Toit" author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/chrismaraisjuliennedutoit/" canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-06-28-karoo-roads-iv-freewheeling-on-the-frontier/" published: "2024-06-28T07:00:36" updated: "2024-06-28T09:33:42" lang: "en-ZA" word_count: 475 --- # Karoo Roads IV — Freewheeling on the Frontier > An exclusive preview of Karoo Roads IV – In Faraway Places, a new book of Karoo Adventures from authors Chris Marais and Julienne du Toit. By Chris Marais and Julienne du Toit · Published 28 June 2024, 09:00 SAST · Updated 28 June 2024, 11:33 SAST ## Key points - Embark on a wild journey through the rugged landscapes of the Karoo in the latest instalment of the Karoo Roads series, where encounters with wolves at dinner, illegal diamond miners, ancient San Bushmen art and veldskoen crafters await, promising a whirlwind of adventure and discovery. - Wolf joins guests for dinner at Agterveld Karoo guest house - Armed illegal diamond miners spotted on Kleinzee Tour - First People's art in black rock formations between Carnarvon and Vanwyksvlei - Kids dance the riel among Cederberg rocks in Karoo Roads IV by Chris Marais and Julienne du Toit ## Content When you book into a guest house deep in the Agterveld Karoo of the Northern Cape and a wolf joins you for dinner, don’t be shocked. When you’re tootling along on a Kleinzee Tour and you come across a horizon filled with armed and illegal diamond miners toiling in the midday sun, don’t be surprised. As you pass the black rock (dolerite) formations on the way between Carnarvon and Vanwyksvlei, think of the First People, the San Bushmen, who made art here. Feel the joy of a dozen kids as they dance the riel among the jagged rocks of the Cederberg, accompanied only by the sounds of silence. On the fringes of the [Karoo](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/karoo-roads/) – Kalahari crossover zone and deep into the Hard Man’s Land, the adventures grow more exotic as the days pass and the journeys continue. In this fourth edition of the Karoo Roads series of heritage tales, authors Chris Marais and Julienne du Toit bring you reports from crazy, wonderful places like Putsonderwater, Hondeklip Bay, Verneukpan, Brandvlei and Merweville, a neat little settlement in the Koup that still glows from the attention of a TV series. They drive the Great Western Highway, follow the majestic Orange River as it snakes through the desert, dig up the legends of the early pioneers, indigenous clans and scoundrels who lived on its banks, chase ancient elephant signs right across the Karoo and end up in a restored Cederberg village, where the veldskoen crafters are hard at work on your next pair of shoes. Here are some photographs from the book. **DM** ![The resident elephants of Samara Private Game Reserve south of Graaff-Reinet. (Photo: Chris Marais)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/EuB4eMHhsEMR2GHU7itAPxkl5TM=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/roads-10.jpg) *The resident elephants of Samara Private Game Reserve south of Graaff-Reinet. (Photo: Chris Marais)* ![Marina Witbooi and a clutch of neighbourhood kids on an after ride through Merweville, Western Cape Karoo. Image: Chris Marais](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/I1dso-6pQ0boH3IgHx7EZd5144Y=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/roads-8.jpg) *Marina Witbooi and a clutch of neighbourhood kids on an afternoon ride through Merweville, Western Cape Karoo. (Photo: Chris Marais)* ![Quiver tree fantasia on the Pofadder-Onseepkans road. Image: Chris Marais](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/q4T1TlExE4i0rJESf4GK8R8r10A=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/roads-5.jpg) *Quiver tree fantasia on the Pofadder-Onseepkans road. (Photo: Chris Marais)* ![A horizon full of illegal miners, Kleinzee, Northern Cape. Image: Chris Marais](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/d58YRveF-8ahnDOVGUZnV0XCOt8=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/roads-3.jpg) *A horizon full of illegal miners, Kleinzee, Northern Cape. (Photo: Chris Marais)* ![Bea the barrow-loving wolf-dog from Brandvlei. Image: Chris Marais](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/4Y8EyqT1sMMJjIGePFB8sSGTJ3g=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/roads-2.jpg) *Bea the barrow-loving wolf-dog from Brandvlei. (Photo: Chris Marais)* ![Gerald Farao, one of the veteran cobblers of Wupperthal village. Image: Chris Marais](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/xp-b3JdAQLV0vdGm36XPPZ-4s6U=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/roads-9.jpg) *Gerald Farao, one of the veteran cobblers of Wupperthal village. (Photo: Chris Marais)* ![Tide coming in at Hondeklip Bay, site of the storied jetty. Image: Chris Marais](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/boWr-Cq-_VyWV_Cl-c0ACQqNOx4=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/roads-7.jpg) *Tide coming in at Hondeklip Bay, site of the storied jetty. (Photo: Chris Marais)* ![The mighty Orange River trundling through the back country of the Northern Cape. Image: Chris Marais](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/Lc46ZqcgbEaSVPnjbiTJ-VgWGXI=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/roads-1.jpg) *The mighty Orange River trundling through the back country of the Northern Cape. Image: Chris Marais* ![All roads lead to Putsonderwater, once a champion railway station. Image: Chris Marais](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/zhLubNaTXPTOPvpuceIVwrf8up4=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/roads-6.jpg) *All roads lead to Putsonderwater, once a champion railway station. (Photo: Chris Marais)* ![A stroll through dolerite canyon country in the Hard Man’s Karoo. Image: Chris Marais](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/akqJO3MDkHqWJiJF7-ucjEsx28U=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/roads-4.jpg) *A stroll through dolerite canyon country in the Hard Man’s Karoo. (Photo: Chris Marais) DM* *Meander down Karoo Roads:* [*Karoo Roads: Faces, places and incredible spaces*](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-12-16-karoo-roads-faces-places-and-incredible-spaces/) [*Karoo Roads II, a visual journey*](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-08-12-karoo-roads-ii-a-visual-journey/) [*Karoo Roads III – From the studios of snowy Nieu-Bethesda to the stony heights of the Richtersveld*](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-09-01-karoo-roads-iii-from-the-studios-of-snowy-nieu-bethesda-to-the-stony-heights-of-the-richtersveld/) ![Karoo Roads](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Karoo-Roads-IV.jpg) *Karoo Roads IV – In Faraway Places* (360 pages, black and white photography, R350 including taxes and courier in South Africa) will be launched in September 2024. Anyone interested in pre-ordering a first-edition, author-signed copy should please contact Julie at [julie@karoospace.co.za](mailto:julie@karoospace.co.za) for more details.