Calitzdorp, Western Cape

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Calitzdorp is a town on the Western side of the Little or Klein Karoo in the Western Cape Province of South Africa and lies at Latitude 33° 32' 14.59 S Longitude 21° 41' 6.59 E on South Africa's Route 62.

The farm, on which Calitzdorp stands, was granted to JJ and MC Calitz in 1831. In 1924 a railway line was opened, in 1937 electrification and a new cement road to Oudtshoorn was completed.

The Swartberg (in the North), Rooiberge (to the South) and the Mountainis of the Huisrivier Pass (to the West) surrounds Calitzdorp’s challenging landscape with floods, droughts and extreme weather, from very hot to snow clad mountaintops in the winter.

Summers are very hot during day, mainly a dry heat, up to 40 C, wind from the sea every afternoon allows for moderate, cool evenings. Winters have sunny days, very cold nights with occasional frost and snow often falling on the surrounding Swartberg Mountain Range. Rainfall is approximately 200 mm per year, often with the changing of seasons. Prevailing winds are mainly from the south in summer and hot wind from the North in August.

Calitzdorp is a haven for enthusiasts of fishing, bird-watching, 4x4 and other scenic routes, horse-riding and wine-tasting.^{[citation needed]}