Although the area is a semi-desert, it is a scenic district with magnificent mountain passes and a diversity of farming activities, producing wine, cheese and dried fruit The Khoi-Khoi hunters called this area Karoo, the land of thirst, which is an apt description of the flat, desolate landscape with its dry climate, rocky outcrops, sparse vegetation and flaming sunsets. In the centre of the Little Karoo region, Oudtshoorn is world-famous for its ostrich farms and the Cango Caves. 

To the north of Oudtshoorn the Swartberg Pass which connects the Little Karoo to the Great Karoo has a panoramic view over the Matjies River Valley and the winding descent crosses many willow shaded streams which offer ideal picnic spots. 

Further east, the little Victorian village of De Rust lies in a setting of orchards and vineyards at the southern entrance to Meiringspoort, a spectacular pass through the Swartberg Mountains leading to the Central Karoo. Towering cliffs of twisted and contorted volcanic strata flank the gorge. Wild flowers grow at the roadside and halfway through the pass there is a beautiful 60-m high waterfall, which plunges down a slanting rock face into a deep pool. 

Over the Swartberg Mountain range to the north lies the Central Karoo, also known as the Great Karoo, is an area famous for its reptile and mammal fossils and one of the main sheep farming districts of South Africa. It is a drought-stricken area where only plants, which have adapted to the harsh arid environment flourish although when irrigation is made possible by subterranean water the soil is highly productive and the landscape is dotted with isolated farmhouses and tranquil little towns. On the rare occasions when it does rain an amazing variety of wild flowers come into bloom. On the outskirts of Beaufort West the Karoo National Park stretches up the slopes of the Nuweveld Mountains in an area where the now extinct quagga and bluebok once roamed. The park was proclaimed in 1979.