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
Tadjourah Region road of the region, providing a circuitous, up and down route to the capital city compared to the sea route which is approximately a fifth of the distance. It also provides the only proper road of the region into Ethiopia. This is the largest forest in the country, a semi-arid surrounded by semi-desert, with four dominant species: "Juniperus procera", "Olea africana", "Buxus hildebrantii", and "Tarchonanthus camphoratus". Elevations play a major factor in temperature, with the escarpments and plateaus on average 11°C (52°F) cooler, day or night. The climate of the coastal strip is influenced by warm ocean waters, keeping the