Brown Locusts swarm the Karoo

Karoo Ridge Conservancy Blog The Karoo is a place of extremes with one year never being the same as the next! It certainly makes life exciting! Every 11 years or so the conditions are right for the Brown Locust (Locustana pardalina) to swarm. This happens when the early spring rains synchronise the hatching of eggs […]

Remote Sensing in the Eastern Karoo

images for earth day

Karoo Ridge Conservancy Blog We recently attended a presentation given by Dr Justin du Toit on Remote sensing in the eastern Karoo. This was based on research which is being done by Ecosystem Management Support for Climate change in Southern Africa (EMSAfrica) in collaboration with the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Their […]

EARTH DAY 2020 – Climate Action – Darae Bjerre

earth day image of the globe

Karoo Ridge Conservancy Blog Earth Day: Does the Condition of the Earth’s Climate Affect Me? 22 April 2020 is the 50th year Earth day has been celebrated since its origin in 1970, focusing on a new topic each year. It is rather rare that we as a whole global population experience the same natural disaster and […]

There’s a Sun spider in my Frigidaire – Ashleigh McDonald

Solifugae sun spider in sand

Karoo Ridge Conservancy Blog Chaucer once said, “There is an end to everything, even the good things”. I, however, prefer to think of it as a full circle, because an end is just another beginning. My year at Karoo Ridge is coming to a close, but my conservation career is just beginning. My end begins […]

Spekboom: Bacon Bush

plants in cans

Karoo Ridge Conservancy Blog South Africa has had many claims to fame recently. We have the world cup winning rugby team, we have Zozibini Tunzi, we have no electricity most of the time and we have an indigenous wonder plant called Spekboom. Directly translating to bacon bush, Spekboom entered the limelight for its ability to […]

Karoo Art

Karoo Ridge Conservancy Blog It is not often I am blown away by a painting but on first glance of this beautiful landscape of rain in the Karoo it took my breath away. It completely captured this rare occurrence so well that I just couldn’t stop looking at it and the detail was just incredible. […]

Outliers Coffee

Outliers coffee roasters logo

Karoo Ridge Conservancy Blog It was their passion for all flora and fauna that caught our eye, so we delved a little further into Outliers Coffee Roasters. A family owned and run business, Outliers coffee distributes locally as well as internationally. From bean to brew, much passion and love goes into each step of the process. Providing […]

Spa Cosmetic Workshop

pots of cosmetic products karoo herbs

Karoo Ridge Conservancy Blog Community involvement and upliftment is paramount to conservation success. Today Karoo Ridge Conservancy held a spa cosmetic workshop with the women of the community. Natural herbs were harvested from the environment to add to the products and each was made with love by the four ladies below. We thank Catwalk Cosmetics […]

Andre Wenham Nature Conservation Bursary 2019

photo of andre wenham

Karoo Ridge Conservancy Blog The 2019 Andre Wenham Nature Conservation Bursary was awarded to Jacobus van der Linden. Jacobus has volunteered at the Cape Leopard Trust, Bracken Nature Reserve, BirdlifeSA, SA Plastics and the Garden Route National Park over the past couple of years. He has been interested in Nature Conservation from a young age […]

Supporting small Businesses

Ivan standing in front of bricks

Karoo Ridge Conservancy Blog This is Ivan. He lives on the edge of the rubbish dump just outside Middelburg. He spends his days using rubbish to fuel his fires and scraping clay to make bricks. We asked him if he would like to be our brick supplier for our new lodge project. He accepted. Yesterday […]