De Rust is a small village at the gateway to the

Klein Karoo The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe Khoemana (also known as !Orakobab or Korana) word is a semidesert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its extent is ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. The name is Dutch and literally translates to "The Rest", referring to the town's original purpose of being a resting place for

settlers A settler or a colonist is a person who establishes or joins a permanent presence that is separate to existing communities. The entity that a settler establishes is a Human settlement, settlement. A settler is called a pioneer if they are among ...

en route through the challenging terrain of a nearby

Swartberg The Swartberg mountains (''black mountain'' in English language, English) are a mountain range in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is composed of two main mountain chains running roughly east–west along the northern edge of the sem ...

gorge.

Location

De Rust is located at the foot of the

Mountain range between

Oudtshoorn Oudtshoorn (, ) is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, located between the Swartberg mountains to the north and the Outeniqua Mountains to the south. Dubbed the "ostrich capital of the world", Oudtshoorn is known for its ostric ...

and

Beaufort West Beaufort West (Afrikaans: ''Beaufort-Wes''; Xhosa: ''eBhobhofolo'') is a town in the Western Cape province in South Africa. It is the largest town in the arid Great Karoo region, and is known as the "Capital of the Karoo". It forms part of the ...

. De Rust is also known for the meandering Meiringspoort pass. Meiringspoort is a gateway that connects the

(little Karoo) and the (great)

Karoo The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe Khoemana (also known as !Orakobab or Korana) word is a semidesert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its extent is ...

through a gorge with a 25 km road crossing the same river 25 times in the span of the 25 km. The annual Meiringspoort half marathon runs through the length of the pass and finishes in De Rust.Meiringspoort 21.1km & 12.5km
/ref>

Climate

Farming

This area is also well known for ostrich farming and most of the farmers in the area either farm exclusively with ostriches or as a sideline to their existing farming.

References

{{Garden Route District Municipality Karoo Populated places in the Oudtshoorn Local Municipality