When you arrive in Oudtshoorn, the principal town of the Little Karoo, you will be welcomed with hospitality which has become synonymous with the people of the Klein Karoo. The Klein Karoo is an oasis-like setting in a fertile valley cupped by the Swartberg and Outeniqua mountain ranges, and is situated on the edge of the Garden Route. Set along the Grobbelaars Rivers which meanders southwards from the Swartberg, providing fertile soil and water for irrigation, Outdshoorn is a town with the most sunny days per year in the whole country. Shielded from the coastal belt by the mountain ranges the Klein Karoo also enjoys many windless days. As a result, crops such as lucerne, tobacco, fruit, grapes and grains grow here in abundance.
The Klein Karoo is one of South Africa's eight wine regions and although it is large in area it is small in production. The wines produced here are high in demand and classed amongst the best from South Africa. You can experience the joy of life in the country and breathe in the healthy, unpolluted as you stop at the numerous estates on the Klein Karoo Wine Route from Montagu in the West to Meiringspoort in the East. Whichever way you approach it, you'll have to traverse a mountain pass to get to Oudtshoorn which located a 4 hour drive from Cape Town.
