Rocky Mountain High

For starters, a flash geography lesson: Between Cradock and Graaff-Reinet, stretching to all points as far as Nieu-Bethesda, Middelburg and Pearston, is a land of mountain massifs. Closest to Cradock are the broad-backed Bankberge, their serried ranks yielding to the Sneeuberg range to the west (linked by the quaintly named Agter- or Onder-Sneeuberg), and the fanged ridges of the Tandjiesberg and Camdeboo ranges along with the Lootsberg mountains north of Nieu-Bethesda. Jutting head and shoulders above them are the distinctive dolerite peaks of the Compassberg (2 503 metres) and Nardou (2 429 metres).

These are the highest mountains in the Karoo. In summer, during good rains, they can look as green as the Yorkshire fells. In winter, their ironstone crowns rise above the snow line, the faint contours of ancient rivers just visible. These mountains are