Book excerpt: After centuries of relative isolation, the Karoo – South Africa’s parched heartland – is a latecomer to the tourist industry. What was once viewed as a harsh and desolate place of limited attraction is rapidly gaining popularity with visitors who now make the Karoo their destination, keen to partake of its legendary charm, its extraordinary fl ora and the resurgence of wildlife that once again populates its plains. Wild Karoo documents Mitch Reardon’s 4,000-kilometre journey of discovery through the region. The book focuses on: local nature conservation in all its facets, the game, large and small – some recently reintroduced – plus birds, reptiles and invertebrates, the unique, arid-adapted flora, the landscape and geology, the history and lifestyle of the people who have made a home here, plans to combine public and private protected land to create wildlife corridors between isolated parks, re-establishing old migration routes and so reversing some of the effects of human settlement. Beautifully written, and illustrated with evocative photographs, this book is a must read for anyone interested in travel, wildlife and the environment.