- Gondwana Cañon Park/ Desert



		Cañon ParkDesert

Between summer and winter rains
The Nama Karoo desert system takes up a large area in the interior of South Africa and southern Namibia. In fact it even reaches as far north as Angola in a narrow strip along the Great Escarpment. The Nama Karoo separates the eastern tree and shrub savannah from the Namib in the west and also marks the western border of the summer rain area.

Karoo means 'semi-desert' in the language of the Khoi-San. However, with mean annual rainfalls of 80 mm to 220 mm and a water deficit factor of 15 to 25 the Nama Karoo can well be regarded as a desert. During the summer months (November to February) temperatures soar up to 45 degrees; in winter they may drop to minus 8 degrees, depending on the area.

Compared to the neighbouring Succulent Karoo the air is drier. This probably accounts for the fact that there are less leaf and stem succulents. Examples are the leafless Euphorbia Virosa and the Aloe Dichotoma (quiver tree). On the whole, dwarf shrubs are predominant, however; dry riverbeds are lined by trees. Tufts of annual grasses scatter the plains.

The Nama Karoo in southern Namibia was originally inhabited by the San. From about 1750 onward several Nama peoples started to settle there. The area between the canyon, the Orange/Gariep River, the Löwen River and today's eastern border was the domain of the Bondelswart Nama.


		- For an overview on the four desert systems of Namibia see - GDC/Deserts and Parks/Background.