Radio Life & Style The Karoo Roads Companion

The Karoo Roads Companion

The companion podcast to the "Karoo Roads" Book Series: a massive quilt of magic stories, brought to you from the Outback of South Africa - written, photographed and published by Julienne du Toit and Chris Marais.

the Karoo Roads series is a collection of more than 60 outstanding Karoo stories in three books, gathered over 20 years of rambling on dirt roads and forgotten highways, in snow and sunshine.

Many of the characters in them, like Matjiesfontein’s David Rawdon, Outa Lappies of Prince Albert, Group Captain ‘Dutch’ Hugo of Pampoenpoort Farm, Alfie Wewege of Port Nolloth, the Elders of Lekkersing village in the Richtersveld and a slew of old-time steam train drivers from De Aar, have since passed on. But, in these pages, they live and breathe once more.

Through these three books you will discover the hidden stories of the Karoo. You will discover a rock star traffic cop, a world-class farm school, a couple who live in a castle, an Old School newspaperman with the highway in his eyes and a desert festival that lights up the Tankwa skies every year.

Light the fire, pour the drink, sink into your favourite chair and join us on a series of adventures and discoveries.

To buy this book series, just email Julie at julie@karoospace.co.za or visit the book section of our website, karoospace.co.za.
English South Africa Places & Travel · History
4 Episodes

In Search of the Mammoth Woolly Poggenpoel Sheep in the Karoo

A mission to find the Golden Fleece of the Karoo begins and ends in the Calvinia Museum. The opening chapter of Karoo Roads III by Chris Marais and Julienne du Toit is all about the wondrous apparitions to be found at the Calvinia Museum in the Northern Cape. The authors…
Season 1 / Episode 1 22 min

The Fish

Each year, hundreds of canoeists are drawn to a remarkable river that runs through a dry land... By Julienne du Toit "Every springtime, an old gap-tooth crocodile called Cecilia makes her appearance on the banks of the Great Fish River in the Eastern Cape Karoo. She lurks quietly, content to…
Season 1 / Episode 2 11 min

Love, Drought and Cheese

Surviving hard times with faith, hope and a slice of Karoo Crumble... By Julienne du Toit 'By 2019, the Karoo had been crippled by a six-year drought that had left the veld blackened, the dams emptied, and farming families destitute. Trucks criss-crossed the country with donated fodder in an effort…
Season 1 / Episode 3 14 min

Karoo Farm Cricket

Never mind the meerkat burrows – the game is afoot! Story and Photographs by Chris Marais Prior Grange Farm near Springfontein in the southern Free State becomes Cricket Central on the occasional happy weekend when almost everyone arrives thirsty, in whites and ready to whack the willow and send the…
Season 1 / Episode 4 8 min