Living Our Sunshine with Susann Deysel
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A nomad’s heart

The truth is I’m feeling lost. I miss my mom. I need to clear my head and the only way I know how to do that is to travel. We have one trip coming up this December, but I need one of those chaotic (not chaotic, but rather action-packed) trips that I’m known for.

December is all about my family this year. Taking Lily on her very first real holiday with a big sister that is water mad; adding in my dad, sister with her hubby and the 2 teenage cousins. It’s a family holiday we used to have regularly as kids with my parents – and we are just recreating our childhood with our own kids.

I can’t wait to create family holiday memories with my kids! Going from “you’ll never have your own” to having 2 of my own is kind of a big deal.

…but back to that trip that I so desperately need, for myself.

I planned a trip to Morocco last year, had the invoice in my hands – and then my mom was diagnosed with cancer. It was a knee jerk reaction to cancel all plans that could take me away from her. Now I need that trip more than anything.

I need to clear my head and be a nomad for just a little bit again.

This heart of mine was made to travel this world

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I want to walk through the bustling streets of Marrakech, drink in the blue of Chefchaouen, admire places like Fes and Rabat, chase seagulls in Essaouira, sleep in the desert and maybe even see the Morocco meteor shower in December. I want to stuff my face in Morocco with every flavour and drape myself in a cultural experience. Ag, how I dream of this place!

Why this obsession to travel and explore Morocco?

Morocco has always been this magical place at the top of Africa where the colours are brighter and the people are different.

Morocco Tours that I’m looking at right now:

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10 things I learnt while wanderlusting

Don’t listen to what they say. Go see.

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  1. Plage is French for beach – thanks to our self-drive family holiday on Reunion Island. In Afrikaans, Dutch, German, Danish, Hungarian, Norwegian and Swedish it is strand.
  2. Taking a kid (toddler) on an international self-drive holiday isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Plus one day she will have amazing photos of her very first international trip that I can tell stories about.
  3. Knowing how to say please, thank you, hello and do you speak English in the local language is a lifesaver. Add a smile and even the French won’t give you a hard time.
  4. I can survive in Germany and the Netherlands without speaking the language – thanks to being Afrikaans. Plus the Dutch really love hearing Die Taal.
  5. Sometimes you have to ignore the third world argument from your husband – because he’ll love going to that destination in the end. There are no mistakes…
  6. Getting lost is not the end of the world, but not carrying spare batteries is.
  7. Driving in the south of Ireland is an adventure I would never say no to. I did it once on my own and got my new husband behind the wheel the second time round. We will never forget the single lane road that was actually a double lane… and the bus!
  8. When you visit a place a second time around with the love of your life it’s even better than the first time! Plus you get to be the tour guide and human GPS. It’s weird, but you can send me back to any place I’ve been and a map just switches on in my head – just don’t ask me to drive around in Pretoria.
  9. You learn a lot about life and yourself. You change with all the new experiences.
  10. The world is wonderful, but home is always Africa.
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The perfect holiday plan for Zanzibar

When you play the flute in Zanzibar all Africa dances. (Zanzibar Proverb)

I’m going to shock you, make you want to climb in my suitcase and cry because you will be stuck in the middle of winter when I’m soaking up some sun – just keep reading.

Zanzibar here I come!

My husband’s birthday is coming up and to celebrate we are going to Zanzibar! We loved our island holiday in the Maldives so much that we wanted to do it all again – but somewhere different and close…and not Mauritius.

No matter how fast moonlight runs, daylight catches up. (Zanzibar Proverb)

We are staying at a very basic hotel right next to the water. We just want to sleep in the beach bungalow and the rest of the time eat, drink, swim and go on excursions. We aren’t those people that sleep off a babelaas until after lunch – we are out and about. Sometimes it is me dragging a sleepy husband out of bed to take a swim and walk around with a camera or it is husband wanting to eat.

I travel lightly…

This is the shocking part of my travel post – I only travel with carry-on luggage! I can pack for a 10 day holiday in a carry-on suitcase and take everything I need and come back with souvenirs.

I heard gasps of disbelief and jaws hitting the floor…

It is true, it takes some creative packing skills and planning to pack for a holiday in a small suitcase, but it takes away the stress of the airline “losing your suitcase” and you not having clothes. In my mind, that makes perfect sense.

I make packing lists – and I promise you, I have not forgotten a single thing I wanted to take. It is the best planning tool.

What am I most excited about?

Taking photos! Lots of photos will be taken. I want photos of Dhows sailing, some Masai etched against the blue water and Zanzibar doors.

I am also excited about the day we will be spending on a dhow sailing to 2 islands. I might get sea sick but I will take so many photos of that dhow it will look like the best thing I’ve ever done.

Then we are also going to Stone Town because I have this obsession about doors and photographing them with my Instax camera. I am drooling over photos of these Zanzibar doors and my husband has quietly resigned himself to his fate.

The water… I love the sea. I can stay in the sea for hours. I love to swim and luckily so does my hubby. (Have I ever told you that my hubby was a surfer in Ballito when he was younger?)

The only thing I hear my husband mumble is crayfish, seafood, swim – make it happen…and I will make it happen – in Zanzibar!

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Dear YOU, we should hang out more often in Limpopo

I really don’t know how this has happenend. Just the other day I wrote this amazing article and planned this amazing calender with posts I wanted to do and then I somehow didn’t quite get to it and now it is almost mid-August! How, seriously – how?

This weekend we went to Houtbosdorp to stay with my parents (and celebrate my dear old mom’s 70th birthday). It was the perfect weekend in the mountains. It had snowed everywhere else so the arctic winds necessatated snow jackets and a heater for my cat in the room.

As always, the views from my parents’home is amazing. How could you not have an amazing view if you lived on a mountain that had views over other mountain tops?

Don’t even get me started on the sunsets… I promise, I didn’t even apply a filter to this photo 🙂

Just to top of the weekend, we also visited Haenertsburg as I’ve always loved the vibe of this little town – and well it was just 30km down a gravel road, over a mountain and to the right of that bush (you know how it goes).

This little town is rich in history, quaint shops and friendly people (and vervet monkeys).

My absolute favourite part of the day was lunch. I ate the most delicious Lavender scone… and licked off my fingers.

It was quite weitd to see the cherry blossoms out early, but I guess after the rains they thought it was almost spring.

You are still wondering where these places (Houtbosdorp and Haenertburg) are – right? Well, Haenertsburg is somewhere between Polokwane and Tzaneen. It is just after the ZCC church area.

Houtbosdorp is a little more complicated to direct you to, because it is no longer a town but rather just a road with farms – but it used to be a Swiss logger settlement. The original farm that the “town” was built on is still there and the ruins are still there, but you can’t just rock up and say you are there to explore – private property. If however you want to see the spectacular views you drive from Polokwane side to the University of Limpopo road and keep on driving until it becomes a gravel road. As soon as you hit gravel, you are on the right track. Places on this road to book – Kurisa Moya or Graceland (they have 3 giraffes).

That is it. Safe travels.

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The Local Tourist – Vilakazi Street

When work says they will pay for a drinks and food if you go to Soweto and take pics on Vilakazi Street, you get on the minibus and go. Maybe it wasn’t the best time to go with the heatwave and all, but to go back to Soweto and get a free meal…

Vilakazi Street is one of the most famous streets in the world with houses belonging to Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the late former president, Nelson Mandela. You could can actually stand on the corner of either house and see the other house – how crazy is that?

Anyway, 6 of us piled into a van and made the trek from Sandton to Soweto. On the other side we were met by our guide, Nkosi and made the very long walk up the street.

8115 Vilakazi Street

The small house on the corner of Vilakazi & & Ngakane streets was home to former president Mandela’s family even while he was incarcerated. On the outside you can still see bullet holes and fire damage to the bricks of this humble home. Now it only hosts photos and quotes from the Mandela family.

It is truly amazing to think that someone that lived so humbly was president of a country.

Entrance to the (now) museum is R60 per person and that includes a short talk by a guide.

Walking up the hill – again and at the corner of Moemas and Vilakazi, where Hector Pietersen was killed, we turned right.

Along the neat little street with neat little houses graffiti graced a few of the walls.

Hector Pietersen Museum

At Hector Pietersen museum I was quote surprised to see that people were so anti Afrikaans and blaming killings on a language. Do people not realise that a language cannot kill people, it is people that kill people. Yes, apartheid wasn’t right, but blaming a language for an atrocity committed by more than just the Afrikaans speaking population…aikona wena.

The museum is a really important reminder to future generations that atrocities like the killing and disappearance of humans should never be forgotten or repeated.

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