One year in South Africa and locked down.

It's a crazy time in life for all of us. Everyone has to be very careful about talking and touching each other, afraid of spreading Corona Virus. Shops are closed and people sit home, bored (?) and waiting for this time to be over...  And I'm having the time of my life!

But let's go back in time little, as my last blog was from more than half a year ago -oops!-. Since the beginning of my time in
Cape Town, I've been very happy. I like the city and its surroundings. White beaches, beautiful mountains, different temperatures of ocean and surf to choose from - much more you can't ask. I lived happily in the hippie town Muizenberg with my hippie housemate and friend David and I enjoyed my work at U-Turn, in all its forms.

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As I liked to extend my stay here in South Afrika, I had to go back to The Netherlands to sort out my visa. I had a good time here, catching up with friends and family, enjoying my weekly Ecstatic dance nights at Odessa, and going up and down to Den Hague a few times to sort out my volunteer's visa! Got it for three years, as it was just as easy as getting it for one year. We'll see how long I'll stay around as I never really know ;)

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November last year I came back to Cape Town, full of excitement of having new adventures, to admire more of South Africa's beautiful country and seeing my friends here again. Not knowing, that not far from then, I fell in love with someone special. Tristan is his name, whom I met last (South African) winter at the Thursday Night Jam sessions. He lives in a bus that he converted into his house. He parked at a piece of land where 3 horses graze and where is a little river stream right from the mountain on a little distance. Doesn't that sound like a good match for a Nouk? Well, I do anyway!

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Shortly after this adventure started, little sissy Yvet came over to Cape Town. It was a combination of visiting me, experiencing this country and doing research for her studies. Another few weeks later daddy came over and together we explored Cape Town and it's surroundings.

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After a little more than a week, we drove loooooong and faaaaaaar to and through Namibia. What an amazing country! Stretched out, so variable and peacefull. We definitely got a sore bum after all these kilometers, but that's not new to us, after our trip in Uganda in 2017. Here a few of my favorite photo's, but all my top favorites you'll find here with Best Photographs from Namibia

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Dad left the end of the year whilst me and my sister went to an inspiring festival (Learning Clan) for new years. We had a few more adventures together and then also she left back to The Netherlands, ready with new energy and inspiration for her life back home. By then, I just bought a caravan to convert into my own little hippie living room that I would park at Tristan's. Meanwhile, I worked on starting up Service Centre in Muizenberg and so I kept moving up and down. Which was fine, as I still liked my surf in Muizenberg and time for myself every now and then.

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Time continued and the spreading of the Corona Virus became more real and closer. First in The Netherlands where I got a little worried about supermarkets getting empty and people starting to freak out, and then it also came to South Africa. When it slowly started spreading, there were rumors that the president will put the country in lockdown when the numbers will keep rising. I, who have been closely following a website with the rising numbers worldwide knew that this wouldn’t take a long time...

Months before, Tristan received the invitation to help out with a solar system at Holiday Cottages from our friend Rob in a little town, Vermaaklikheid (meaning Amusement in Dutch and Afrikaans), about 4 hours East from Cape Town. Even though this was the plan in May, it was a good reason to pack up our household on wheels and head over that way. And so we did, about 2,5 weeks ago! And so, here we are, forcefully having to slow down and I LOVE it. Naturally, we wake up and go to sleep earlier. It’s so good to me!

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In the mornings I swim in the river, followed by yoga and meditation. I fiddle around in my caravan, repainting it here and there, making the table from pallet wood, cutting the caravan seats and making their pillowcases. Projects I love to work on and it’s great to have lots of time for it. In the evenings, we come together and light a fire, make delicious food, possibly with a fresh-caught fish and always with Rob’s super healthy dessert pudding. 

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The rush from the Western Life is slowly leaving my body; the thoughts that go to my body to notice is tension I often feel that is slowly leaving my mind. 

It might seem that I’m closing my eyes to what is going on around me. How the economy

crashes, people can't make money, the poor community is getting deeper and deeper in trouble and

how U-Turn is dealing with the homeless situation in Cape Town... I am in a way, it's too much to

take and I can't solve much in this situation. But I actually also think it is good/necessary what is

happening. People get time to get closer to themselves, reflect, get creative and get closer to nature. A

lso, nature is benefitting lots from this people break.

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And to get back to the situation in Cape Town: I can only imagine what could happen when this

continues for much longer; poor people that cannot work and have no savings are running out of

money to buy food and then what? Safety was also one of the reasons to leave the city: you don’t want

to live in a bus when “they” come and get the food that they can’t buy. 

This sounds like a doom scenario, but having lived in the city for one year now, I can tell you, it’s not

as unimaginable as it will sounds whilst living in Australia, Netherlands or America. Cape Town

already has on itself many problems. Besides poverty and the big difference between rich and poor (and black, coloured and white), “load-shedding” which is electricity that has been cut out by the government because there is not enough, has been a continuous thing for many years. The lack of drinking water is another. And then there are the many gangs and the crime that is high. 

Some positive news to finish off with. It’s good for me, this whole lockdown, but I hope for you all in a way. If you haven’t done it yet, I like to ask you to also open your eyes and watch the positive effect it has on you and the world. More time to finish your photo book projects, making a vision board, meditate more. Discover how to knit or appreciate things that that you usually take for granted. And then on a macro level... I think I will just upload this image ;)

I’m getting the first signs of friends that are bored of sitting inside. For all of these and the curious people; I have been updating a little more on Facebook and Instagram - Story about my gardening/caravan/river swims, so check that out if you like or scroll through the website. It’s almost impossible to have checked out every page so have a look and feel you’re out there!

A few links to things I got inspired by over the last years:

• The Secret (about the law of attraction) - Good version on Netflix

• The podcast on Spotify called “Mastery with Joshua Tongol” from Podcast 11

• The True Nature of the Universe Is Now Becoming Very Clear from Gregg Braden

Please share in the comment box down below what inspires you, the highlight of these times for you or just your thought and for the rest: keep exploring, stay happy and healthy :D

Namaste!

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