THE KAROO
ANCIENT LAND
At the heart of Nedbank Gravel Burn is the Great Karoo, where the history of our planet is carved into every layer of the vast semi-desert landscape.
THE ROUTE OF THE NEDBANK Gravel Burn slices through the southern edge of South Africa, where lush coastal forests give way to high plains, fossil beds, semi-arid plateaus and Big Five savannahs. It is a visual shift that echoes a deeper one: a journey through the layers of time itself.
Starting on the lagoon shore and the shaded forest roads of Knysna, you’ ll climb and descend across historical terrain that tells the story of how the region was shaped before entering the Karoo, a vast semi-arid land that holds one of the most complete fossil records on earth.
Beneath your tyres lies the prehistoric story of life as we know it. By the time you reach Shamwari Private Game Reserve, you will have ridden across not just 800 kilometres, but more than 300 million years of the planet’ s history.
The Karoo’ s layered geology forms a literal timeline. Each stage of the race takes you through a different stratum, from ancient inland seas and glacial scars to extinct rivers and
18 NEDBANK GRAVEL BURN