Rooiheuwel Holiday Farm

The Karoo is a semi-desert region – one of the world’s most distinctive dry areas – and is dotted with the planet’s largest variety of succulent plants. It’s also home to plenty of primates, game, reptiles, invertebrates and birds, including the black rhinos and lions in the Karoo National Park (50 minutes’ drive). Once you’ve spotted all the animals on safari here, venture towards Beaufort West, a town full of restored old houses, to drop by the Chris Barnard Museum and the Old Village Museum at Spinwiel Antique Shop for learning a little more about the local history. Rooiheuwel Holiday Farm is also a five-hour drive east of Cape Town, so it’s a fab spot for a few days’ rest during a road trip along the N1 highway running through South African cities like Bloemfontein, Johannesburg and Pretoria before finishing up at Beit Bridge on the border with Zimbabwe.