Semi-desert

What is a semi-desert climate?

An extremely dry area characterized by sparse vegetation.

Semi-desert scrubs A transitional formation type situated between true desert and more thickly vegetated areas (e.g. between thorn forest and desert or between Savannah and desert). The vegetation is sparser than that of the thorn forest and succulents are more common, as a consequence of the drier climate. Most of the plants are shallow-rooted, and so able to exploit before it evaporates any precipitation that percolates into the surface layer of the soil.

Plants That Live in the Semi-Desert Scrub

The semi-desert scrub is a region short on moisture with plenty of sunlight. This area is open shrubland with clumps of grass. The soil is fine-textured, alkaline and salty. The plants must endure hot summers and cold winters and annual rainfall is usually 7 to 16 inches–commonly falling as snow. Rainfall also can flood the area with up to 3 feet of water. The growing season in semi-desert scrub is marked by drought. Most plants that grow in this area must be tolerant to fire and large mammal grazing.

Four-Wing Saltbush

Four-wing saltbush (Atriplex canescens) is an evergreen shrub reaching 15 feet high. The narrow, oblong leaves are 1/2 to 2 inches long. The gray-green foliage sparsely covers the multitude of branches. Four-wing saltbush produces dull yellow-brown flowers in the summer. Light green fruit follows the blossoms and turns light brown in the fall when ripe. Papery bracts create four wings around the fruit and stay on the bush for two years.

Indian Ricegrass

Indian ricegrass (Achnatherum hymenoides) is an erect perennial that grows 1 to 2 1/2 feet tall. This grass begins growing in the early spring while temperatures are still cool. Loose seed spikes are produced in the late spring. Green narrow blades attach to Indian ricegrass at the base. This grass thrives at 3,000 to 10,000 feet in elevation. Indian ricegrass is adapted to arid conditions and does not grow well in poor-draining soil. This plant is an important spring and summer food source for large mammals.

Winterfat

Winterfat (Krascheninnikovia lanata) is a cool season perennial that lives up to 130 years. This low-growing, woody shrub reaches 1 to 3 feet in height. The hairs covering the branches give the bush a silvery-white look. Small blossoms appear in April to September. The white flowers do not have any petals and form blossom clusters. Winterfat is found in dry valley bottoms, flat mesas, and hillsides. It does not grow well in wet conditions. Winterfat provides winter grazing for sheep, pronghorn, elk and mule deer.

Yellow Rabbitbrush

Yellow rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus) is a 1- to 4-foot evergreen shrub. Brittle branches sprout from the base of the plant. Small, grass-like leaves are light green in color. Small, yellow blossoms appear in the late summer. These sticky flowers form round clusters. Yellow rabbitbrush prefers dry, good-draining soil and tolerates salty soil. This bush quickly invades areas disturbed by construction and agriculture.

Big Sagebrush

Big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentate) is an upright perennial shrub. This evergreen branches off a short trunk to create a round shape. Big sagebrush can reach 16 feet tall. Tiny flowers form dense clusters in the fall. Three-lobed, gray-green leaves are covered with silver hairs. This bush typically grows at 2,500 to 10,000 feet elevation in dry, good-draining, gravelly or rocky soil. Wildlife grazes on big sagebrush throughout the year.

Driedoring (Rhigozum trichotomum Burch.)

These thorny African bushes can be classified as shrubs or as multi-stemmed trees that can grow up to three meters in height. The branches are rigid and twist in angular directions. The branches’ arms are short. This genus can produce flowers between the months of September and December. They grow out in dry, open woodland ion sandy soils or out of limestone rocky outcrops.

 

 

Karreekloof a Unique Game Lodge

What makes Karreekloof so unique? A place rich in so much history late evening stories around the campfire already play a major role in shaping the piece of earth.

With its wide plains, windmills that are continuously turning around with every day’s mercy. Animals that each find a unique piece of the field to multiply their survival. Plants that can still display their beautiful side through heavy days.

One of the most beautiful characteristics of Karreekloof is the unique ‘witgatboom’. These trees grow in dry areas. The Latin name is Boscia Albitrunca and if I translate the Afrikaans name, ‘witgatboom’, to English, it literally means a tree with a white bottom:) A good name for these trees, as their trunks are white, of course. What makes them so beautiful, are their trunks that bend and turn and have the nicest forms, picture perfect.

With the white walls from home to storage each with their own characteristics and rounded new ‘facelift’, you can get ‘lost’ in thoughts drinking an early cup of coffee on the porch watching the steam slowly evaporating from the cup into thin air. Appreciate the silence without any noise in your ears, breathe in fresh air and just blast away from your everyday work.

Every place on earth is unique in its own way, every human being is different. Not all animals and plants have the same characteristics. People can make decisions and choose where the wheels of their cars should turn. May the unique Karreekloof ‘village’, as we call it, take your breath away when driving your car wheels through our gates.

“I hope you spend your days but they all add up and when that sun goes down, hope you raise your cup.”

Nature and it’s attractions

The love for living systems “biophilia” makes the simplicity of the word nature sound like a gift, it will open any moment.

Attraction to the wildlife comes from inner excitement, wanting to experience and to see more. The chasing of cars, trucks, and smoke from buildings that fill the blue sky will make you want to breathe clean air. Stare at the extreme starry night and live life’s adventures to the fullest. Hoping that one day all adventures can be written in a diary for grandchildren to be found so they can keep nature alive.

Karreekloof offers the inner beauty of the Karoo, breathtaking scenery from sunrise to sunset. A star night that lets you get lost in another world and forgetting about the problems of yesterday and today. Breathe with the feeling of relief and relax for a while.

For the adventure-loving people who is crazy about water, the Orange River’s kayak rides can only be worthwhile or even take a trip down memory lane with white water river rafting.

Historical history from Magersfontein to Prieska will let your whole body fill up with goosebumps. Indulge your lifestyle for a moment, understand nature, experience it and you’ll never regret it one day. For that more social kind of feeling and tranquility of spirit, a boat on the river will work wonders, good company and the simplicity of the day as the host.

Come and feel the power of nature, admire the birds, smell the different flavors of plant life and let the animal kingdom entertain you.

Now comes the challenge, grab your bag, put both feet outside your front door, get in your car and experience all these unforgettable feelings.

“If you truly love nature, you’ll find beauty everywhere” – Van Gogh –

A true safari experience at Karreekloof Lodge

Karreekloof is an incredible place, the only one of its kind.

On the road to Karreekloof with the big star country surrounding him, and wide-open spaces where the sun is so slow that the colors slowly change from yellow to deep orange and pink. Here you literally feel the goosebumps on your skin, it’s like magic.

In Swahili, the word safari means ‘journey’. Take the ‘journey’ to Karreekloof Lodge with its natural beauty and its breathtaking wildlife with endless wilderness plateau and warm hospitality.

Karreekloof is a family-friendly destination, its sheer size, clear skies, elaborate sunsets, dazzling starry nights and incredible silence, is mesmerizing.

Come and experience the endless landscapes, feel the heat of the sun on your shoulders as you explore the upper Karoo with its wide-open spaces.

Relax, enjoy a sundowner in a peaceful evening, take in so much fresh air that your toes will turn around. A must-see destination rich in history. Sit back and relax at our own trading store, shake it up with a milkshake and take a look through our own little shop.

The Karoo has a rich human record. People have continuously inhabited the area, so as I would say:  The Upper Karoo is a cool place, you just got to love it!

Nature gives in so many ways – we just need to tune in.

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing” – Helen Keller

Environmentally Friendly Eating Habits

Sustainable eating doesn’t have to be hard, and it also doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing.

Adopting just a few of the items on this list can make a big impact. For instance, if one person chose to use reusable bags for the rest of their life, beginning at the age of 25, they could save more than 21,000 plastic bags. Point being: You can make a difference.

Go organic

The definition of organic can be a little confusing, but food labels can help. Certified organic foods are grown and processed using farming methods that recycle resources and promote biodiversity and without the use of synthetic pesticides, bioengineered genes, and petroleum- or sewage-sludge-based fertilizers.

Though their benefits to the environment have a long-term payoff, organic foods can be pricier — if you’re on a budget, find out which foods are most worth buying organic, and limit your organic purchases to the ones that make the biggest impact.

Turn waste into a resource. 
If you’ve got the inclination and a little bit of free time, give composting a try and turn food scraps into a resource that keeps on giving.

https://greatist.com/health/33-environmentally-friendly-eating-habits

Karreekloof environmental protection plan

What Are We Responsible For?

With new beginnings comes huge responsibilities protecting the environment.  In the pipeline of Karreekloof we have exciting projects lying ahead. Supporting our community with beating hearts by helping the environment.

  1. RINO CLEAN: is a project in the township where people can receive a plate of food for every bag of rubbish they can give us. This will be done from our “community center” that is in progress and will be ready in the near future.
  2. RINO FIRE: not just creating jobs but removing invasive trees from farms in riverbeds and making firewood and charcoal to be sold in branded bags.
  3. RINO GROW: also a job-creating project where we will make compost for nurseries from the thin branches and leaves of the invasive trees.

The environment is essential if we want to preserve the flora and fauna of the natural world.

It is hard to feel motivated to save the environment when we feel disconnected from it. So, take time to appreciate the environment. Go for walks, meditate in a local park or other green space and do a little gardening each weekend.

That way, you will realize how much better a gorgeous natural world can make our lives. This will help to spur you on, to take action to conserve the environment for future generations.

People that destroys its soils, destroys itself.

We don’t just want to protect our communities environment, we want to create a community where the environment doesn’t need protection.

 

Principles of Poverty Alleviation

The Importance of Work

Sometimes people are genuinely unable to provide for themselves. Scripture tells us we should all be seeking to work rather than to live off the generosity of others.

Those of us who are employed or who own businesses need to value our work and do our best to it.

Those of us who are employed or who own businesses need to value our work and do our best to it.

Fighting poverty through job creation is essential. Employment is a fundamental tool. It promotes human dignity and the health and well-being of communities. The Church can be involved in this area.

Not demonizing the wealthy, the financially successful, the business owner, or the entrepreneur. It can also help by providing tools for the poor to find jobs and become more qualified for those jobs.

The Importance of Moral Proximity & Subsidiarity

The two principles are very similar. Moral proximity looks at problems and asks,        “Where am I personally responsible to act given my finite time and resources?”    Subsidiarity looks at problems and asks, “Who is best equipped to deal with them?”

Subsidiarity states that if the family cannot solve the problem, friends, community groups, and churches should step in.

https://tifwe.org/four-principles-of-poverty-alleviation/

 

Ways to protect the environment

We all want to protect our planet, but we’re mostly too busy or too lazy to put up big change that would improve our lifestyle and save the environment.


These are 7 simple habits to implement in your everyday life which will make a difference. There is nothing new here but if you follow at least some of these tips, you can be proud of yourself participating in the protection of the environment.

  1. Use compact fluorescent light bulbs:
    It is true that these bulbs are more expensive, but they last much longer and they can save energy and in the long term your electricity bill would be reduced.
  2. Donate:
    You have tons of clothes or things you want to get rid of. If they are still usable, give them to someone who needs them. You may also choose to give them to associations. These associations may sell them and collect a little money. Not only will you protect the environment, but you will also contribute to a good cause.
  3. Turn off your devices: 
    When you do not use a housing device, turn it off. For example, if you don’t watch TV, turn it off. Turn off the light when you leave a room (even if you intend to return.) It’s an easy habit to take up which will help you save a lot of money.
  4. Walk or cycle: 
    Driving is one of the biggest causes of pollution. If you want to use your car, ask yourself the following question: do I really need my car? Walk or use your bike if the journey is a short one.
  5. Detergent:
    Follow the recommended dose of detergent to wash your clothes or dishes.
  6. leaky faucets:
    Watch leaky faucets, which can cause a significant increase in the water bill. An average of 120 liters of water can be wasted due to a dripping faucet.
  7. Rainwater:
    Think of recovering rainwater. This water can be used for different purposes.

http://greenliving.lovetoknow.com/Ways_to_Protect_the_Environment