Matjiesfontein surrounding Karoo region is a flat, sparsely populated semi-desert. Matjiesfontein has a healthy climate for people with lung complaints, and was once home to a Victorian spa and health resort. Matjiesfontein Matjiesfontein is a settlement in Central Karoo District Municipality in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The original inhabitants of the region were the Khoikhoi herders and the San hunter gatherers. Following the arrival of the early European colonists, the area was settled by Afrikaaner Trekboers and Griqua people. The town itself owes its existence to the Cape Government Railways, and to the route that their founder, Cape
Karoo Desert National Botanical Garden such as the succulents of the unique Robertson Karoo vegetation type, and patches of the threatened Breede Shale Renosterveld vegetation type. The cultivated area, with its network of pathways, includes a very large succulent collection. Including the greenhouses it maintains nearly 3,000 species. There are another 400 plant species that are naturally indigenous to the garden's premises. A range of wild animals also naturally occurs in the garden, including the shrub hare, grey mongoose, three tortoises species ("Chersina angulata", "Stigmochelys pardalis" & "Homopus areolatus") and a range of other small mammals, reptiles and amphibians. Karoo Desert National Botanical Garden The