The Great Karoo, in which the five star Samara Game Lodge is situated, covers an area of over 400,000 square kilometers. For most of the past 250 million years, it has been a vast inland basin which has, at various times, been glaciated, accommodated inland deltas, seas, lakes or swamps and volcanic activity has also taken place. Despite all these changes, or perhaps because of them, reptiles and amphibians prospered and their remains provide rich pickings for modern day palaeontologists.
Before the advent of western settlers in the 1800s, vast herds of antelope, zebra and other large game roamed the grassy plains of this region with the only two legged predators being the Khoi and Bushmen, the last of the southern African Stone Age peoples who left a fantastic heritage of rock art some of which can be found on Samara. The region was drastically changed with the occupation by European settlers who mainly grazed sheep, thus changing the pattern of grazing, degenerating the grass cover.
Sheep farming became the economic backbone of the Karoo but many of these farms are being bought up by people who wish to see the karoo restored to it’s natural beauty by rehabilitating the land and re-introducing indigenous wildlife which has not been seen in the area for many generations. The Karoo holds very important historical value to South Africa and there are many secrets to still be discovered.
Tel: +27 (0)21 794 9050
