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h3. Search Controls

The buttons below the map hide/show locations by type – eg Accommodation, Airports, Reserves, Borders.

h3. Map Control

The buttons on the right apply to the map as a whole
Lassoo – zooms the map to include all visible items
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Hide – removes all items from the maps
Ruler – provide a simple scale tool – the endpoints can be dragged to measure the distance of interest
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Map type – top right menu

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Vast desert expanse, Karoo lamb, overnight rail trips

Western Cape

Great Karoo

Great Karoo is the largely dry scrubby region that occupies much of central South Africa. Its vast flat terrain is best appreciated by popular overnight rail trips that link Cape Town with the goldfield riches of Johannesburg.

Karoo lamb gets its distinctive herby flavour from bush vegetation that is the principal food supply for the predominant sheep farming. Lack of water has left the area largely free of significant agriculture and left the area sparsely populated.

The area is made up of a large inland basin at times under water and subject to large scale volcanic activity. Early reptiles and amphibians have been preserved to create an important fossil resource.

Long abandoned British blockhouses remain from the Anglo Boer War when commando units waged guerrilla war from the extensive cover of desert terrain.