Love Letter #28: South Africa

A love letter to my first love, South Africa

I recently stumbled upon a journal entry from twenty years ago; from the day I first arrived in South Africa as an exchange student studying at University of Cape Town.  I arrived jet-lagged, tired as hell, a bit overwhelmed, and entirely unsure of myself and what I was getting myself into.  As soon as my feet hit the tarmac at CPT International Airport and the fresh Capetonian air hit my lungs it felt like something changed in me on a cellular level.  I felt alive.  I felt invigorated.  I felt like I belonged.  I felt like home.  

That first ‘arrival’ was to be similarly repeated over and over and over again in over the next 20 years (one of my last passports was 80% filled with OR Tambo International Airport (Johannesburg) visa entry and exit stamps).  I’d arrive exhausted, a little beat-up (I’m not as young as I used to be), kind of angry, and questioning the entire trip altogether.  Then I step outside and smell that air and it transports me back to that very first time as a young, optimistic 22 year old, and all of those feelings just disappear completely.  

I just returned ‘home’ about a few weeks ago from an 18-day trip back to the motherland.  As part of my ongoing continuing education as a travel designer and as a nature/wildlife/safari specialist, I need to travel to see different lodges, visit with guides, understand new flight schedules and airstrip logistics, and to see what is new and what is tired and needs a refurb.  There’s nothing more terrifying to me than having a guest trust me with their holidays and then I send them somewhere I haven’t yet been, or a trusted colleague hasn’t been, and it doesn’t meet their expectations.  It keeps me up at night sometimes if I’m being honest.  It’s a very big responsibility.  

Visiting these lodges and going on safari admittedly doesn’t suck- it’s one of few perks of starting your own business and making very little money for the first several years. COVID definitely increased that timeline as well. And as a wildlife fanatic there is truly no other place I’d rather be than in the bush.  Give me a villa on Lake Como with a private Italian chef (and cabana boy) and I’d still choose being in the bush- every. single. time. Even after having been on probably over 100+ safaris over the last twenty years, I’m still the first one up at 4:30AM ready to go.  It just never gets old- in fact, I think it just gets better.  

Beautiful juvenile male leopard in Klaserie.

I arrived in Hoedspruit and met up with my dear friend and trusted colleague, Rebecca Axcell.  We had about twelve days of safaris and lodge visits lined up back-to-back. 

I stayed at 10 different lodges, 5 different reserves/national parks, and visited another 6 additional lodges during my time in the Greater Kruger National Park in 12 days. It was probably the most intense educational I’ve done in years. But, wow, was it informative. There are vastly different rules, regulations, and camp configurations to be aware of; this isn’t different from other great safari locations, it’s just that the variance in this part of the Kruger is just so much great than, say, Botswana or Zambia. There is a lot more to consider than just time of year for wildlife and weather, activities available, number of vehicles etc… here than in other places.

I had some incredible wildlife sightings including two different break-downs in the bush in the middle of a pride of lions at night.  (If you’re wondering if that happens regularly I can assure you it does not, it only happens to me.) I had a great sighting of wild dogs with a fresh kill (a personal favorite of mine- the dogs not the kill), some fun elephant splashy-time, tons of leopards, and even a black mamba. I have a story about black mambas for another time. It was an incredible time to be alive. There’s no place better than the bush, in my opinion, especially when it’s sundowner time and you’ve got an ice-cold Cruxland gin & tonic in your hand.

Last night at Trails Camp calls for a proper Boma dinner.

After Hoedspruit I was off to Cape Town for a few lovely, but grey, days and then to wine country.  Even though I’d spent a combined two+ years living in Cape Town and about 16 years combined working in South Africa and all over the region, I hadn’t spent much time in Cape Town since 2016.  It felt like a totally new city, but also exactly how I’d left it.  Cape Town is arguably the most beautiful city on the planet- you cannot convince me otherwise.  Even on her grey, drizzly days, she’s a real stunner.

I did some of my regular visits; high tea and spa treatments at the Mount Nelson Hotel, an evening dinner down at the V&A Waterfront at Waterside (their tasting menu is one of the best I’ve had), cocktails on a beautiful rooftop, a visit to the Old Biscuit Mill on Saturday morning, and a morning hike up Lion’s Head.  I did several ‘site inspections’ (industry speak for checking out hotels) at some beautiful new spots that had opened since my last visit. And, I visited the new(ish) Zeitz Mocca Museum of Contemporary Art.

It was a very (too) short visit, but I was off to see new things in Franschhoek- a cute little town in the Cape Winelands.

My first stop was La Residence, a Royal Portfolio collection hotel.  This place is so over the top and I loved every inch of it.  They gave me the room that Elton John stays in when he visits- it was magical.  I had views over the morning sunrise and also the evening sundown as well as several nice bottles of South African wine I’d been gifted to enjoy them with.  I was also lucky enough to visit with the resident Pied Kingfisher (IYKYK).  Dinner was spectacular, breakfast was indulgent and the property was just stunning.  

After another too short stay, I was off to a ‘farm wellness retreat’ where I was supposed to stay for a minimum of two nights.  My stay included several signature treatments and all meals and beverages.  I was meant to stay at the farm the entirety of the two days to get the full experience…  As a full-time cynic, I was sure what they were going to sell me was some of the same BS I’ve been sold before.  I was a bit irritated that I was supposed to stay farm-side for two days when there were so many new wineries I’d been dying to visit.  But, honestly, my body was tired so I just went with it.  And, wow, was I glad I did.  

I arrived around 3PM and had a tour around the property and then at 4PM promptly I was to begin my first ‘treatment’; a hammam, massage and herbal bath thingy.  I was greeted by the loveliest woman, Josephine, who I’m entirely convinced is a magician of white magic.  And then over the next two days, I morphed into a different person. I read some books and just took thrice-daily constitutionals around the large, beautiful property.  I had nowhere to be and nothing else to do.  I am not one to sit around and ‘relax’, in fact I’m not really even sure what that means.  Everything I did or ate after that first treatment was better than the thing before it.  

After two days of what I can only describe as the closest thing to experiencing heaven on earth, I was headed off to the airport to begin my 36+ hour journey towards home**.

After 2-3 weeks away I’m usually pretty ready to get home. ‘Educational’ trips are tough. They’re also loads of fun. They are always both. ‘Educational’ trips involve changing hotels/lodges every day (very rarely you get to stay 2 nights in a row somewhere). You often have to visit hotels during the day and have meals at multiple different spots (read: too much food). You usually don’t get to SIT for more than an hour at a time and usually that’s just because you’re in the car transiting. You’re usually READY to get home when the trip is done.

Whenever I’ve finished my travels in Africa, whether that was when I was working in humanitarian aid or in travel, however, it’s always a mixed bag. I’m exhausted and ready for my nice bed, but I’m always a little hesitant to leave. It’s like maybe part of me wonders if I leave now, I may never be able to be back here, now, exactly as it is at that moment. There’s a definite trepidation in my departures from this part of the world. One that I don’t really experience anywhere else I go.

So this was a bittersweet departure, as they almost always are, but this one was even more so... Did I squeeze everything I could out of this trip? I mean, who knows when I’ll be back. Maybe it will be different when I return and I will have missed my opportunity to get in one last chance to remember what the veld smells like just after the rain, or one last chuckle and eye-roll about something that happened that was just SO South African, one last sundowner over Table Mountain, or one last opportunity to dig your bare feet deep into that warm, ochre sand in the bush.

Maybe this intense feeling of trepidation in leaving was due to the fact that it took me almost 7 years to get back to a place that I often consider a second home, and my first love. Part of me is ready to book my next flight back. The other part of me thinks that the world is wide, and there’s so many beautiful places to see before we die. The days feel shorter somehow now and the years pass faster than they once did. Is there greater value in going back to the same place again and again? In the knowing and the comfort of those things we enjoy? Or is there greater value in seeking out new adventures? The answer is- it’s probably both.

**Just as a side note here, you absolutely CAN get home from South Africa in less than 36 hours, but in my eternal quest for knowledge I decided to try out KLM economy ‘comfort’ so that I could gather more data points. The short answer is, ‘No, it’s not worth it’. Worst long-range flight I’ve taken in a decade…

South Africa is an intensely beautiful and deeply complicated place. She is a country whose name evokes starry eyes from all who have known her well- even those who have left her long ago, both willingly and unwillingly. She is a siren and a muse. A giver and a taker in equal measure. She contains multitudes with her deserts, her veld, her mountains, her beaches and her vast Karoo. She is the rainbow nation and welcomes everyone. She was my first ‘home’ and her soul is in my marrow. She is beauty personified. She is waiting for your visit- and I cannot wait to show you my South Africa.

Last night with my first love.