Hey everyone, how gorgeous is this? No, these were not taken in Switzerland, but right here in Sunny South Africa and would you believe just a few days ago, with snow on the mountain and a mere 4 days away from Spring!



![thumbnail_IMG20200822WA0038.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/craigcryptoking/PkPZLGvT-thumbnail_IMG-20200822-WA0038.jpg)

Where we these taken? In the Karoo where my mother resides.



![IMG20200818WA0024.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/craigcryptoking/7adQs5yw-IMG-20200818-WA0024.jpg)

![IMG20200828WA0009.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/craigcryptoking/cH50Firz-IMG-20200828-WA0009.jpg)


The Karoo (/kəˈruː/ kə-ROO; from the !Orakobab word ǃ’Aukarob "Hardveld"[2][3]) is a semi desert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its extent is also not precisely defined. The Karoo is partly defined by its topography, geology and climate, and above all, its low rainfall, arid air, cloudless skies, and extremes of heat and cold.[4][5] The Karoo also hosted a well-preserved ecosystem hundreds of million years ago which is now represented by many fossils.[6]

The ǃ’Aukarob formed an almost impenetrable barrier to the interior from Cape Town, and the early adventurers, explorers, hunters, and travelers on the way to the Highveld unanimously denounced it as a frightening place of great heat, great frosts, great floods, and great droughts.[7] Today, it is still a place of great heat and frosts, and an annual rainfall of between 50 and 250 mm, though on some of the mountains it can be 250 to 500 mm higher than on the plains.[4] However, underground water is found throughout the Karoo, which can be tapped by boreholes, making permanent settlements and sheep farming possible.[4][5]

The xerophytic vegetation consists of aloes, mesembryanthemums, crassulas, euphorbias, stapelias, and desert ephemerals, spaced 50 cm or more apart,[4][8] and becoming very sparse going northwards into Bushmanland and, from there, into the Kalahari Desert. The driest region of the Karoo, however, is its southwestern corner, between the Great Escarpment and the Cederberg-Skurweberg mountain ranges, called the Tankwa Karoo, which receives only 75 mm of rain annually.[4] The eastern and north-eastern Karoo are often covered by large patches of grassland. The typical Karoo vegetation used to support large game, sometimes in vast herds.[7][9]

Today, sheep thrive on the xerophytes, though each sheep requires about 4 ha of grazing to sustain itself. Check out more here as per wikipedia.org https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karoo



![thumbnail_IMG20200818WA0025.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/craigcryptoking/7YswIQL1-thumbnail_IMG-20200818-WA0025.jpg)

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As a result of all the snowmelt the wild flowers in the area have more than they need to thrive and thrive they do in all their glory!

![IMG20200828WA0013.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/craigcryptoking/xXVikviJ-IMG-20200828-WA0013.jpg)

![thumbnail_IMG20200819WA0029.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/craigcryptoking/N9i2hrI7-thumbnail_IMG-20200819-WA0029.jpg)



A gorgeous old farm Road, a painters dream through the farmlands and off to the foot of these snow ridden mountains!



![thumbnail_IMG20200829WA0025.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/craigcryptoking/WioWdvHv-thumbnail_IMG-20200829-WA0025.jpg)

Nature truly is incredible.

I trust you have an amazing week!

Love and light, be blessed.
Cheer$;)