Rewilding the Karoo

LARA SAGE and family take a driving holiday in South Africa that culminates in a stay at Samara Karoo Reserve, not just a one-of-a-kind safari camp, but a conservation success story.

A milestone birthday called for the most marvellous multi-generational South African road trip via the scenic Route 62. We traversed the phenomenal and famed mountain passes of Swartberg and Meiringspoort; we stopped at waterfalls and landmarks along the way to the Cango Caves, with stalactites and stalagmites to delight all ages! There were visits to the historical towns of Prince Albert and Graaff-Reinet, and The Valley of Desolation, with its exceptionally beautiful views of rugged, dolerite columns set against endless plains that appear as if dusted in pink and lilac hues.

Finally, we reached Samara Karoo Reserve, a unique safari that embodies the passionate restoration of this breathtaking landscape in the Great Karoo.

The founders of the reserve knew little of this part of South Africa before a chance meeting in a different corner of the country in the 1990s. At a dinner in Northern Natal (“accompanied by several glasses of superb South African cabernet”), a fellow from the Great Karoo enchanted them with tales of vast herds of springbok that once roamed an area, of the so-called “Vanished Kings” – Cape lions who majestically reigned over the Plains of Camdeboo – not to mention black rhinos, cheetahs, the now-extinct quagga, as well as the explorers and characters of yesteryear and the haunting beauty of the semi-desert land.

They went away completely smitten – and determined to visit the Great Karoo. Not long after, they became the proud owners of what is now Samara Karoo Reserve.

Conservation efforts

Until the late 19th century, this area had witnessed one of the world’s largest animal migrations, with huge numbers of antelope and elephant moving through the river systems, accompanied by rhinos, and predators such as Cape lions, leopards, cheetahs, spotted hyenas and wild dogs.