Books and hearts and flowers...

... a few of my favourite things.

What counts

So it's probably a bit strange that I'm writing this on Christmas day but it's not really Christmas that's on my mind. Am I sad that I could not be with family and friends this year? Yes. Am I sad in general? No. In fact I've had rather a nice day... quiet and peaceful and full of lovely moments. I've seen, spoken to or heard from loved ones across the world, had some beautiful thoughtful gifts to unwrap and enjoy, plenty of yummy treats to eat and I'm left in no doubt that I'm cared for. What more could a person wish for at Christmas really?

What's on my mind though is not the holiday but work.

What's on my mind is how stretched and challenged and yet motivated I am.

What's on my mind is how I have to trust now, more than ever, that things will be okay and that I will be okay - better than okay.

Over the past few months I've been working out my notice as well as establishing the new business - both jobs in the time and space of one. It's been pretty hectic. A tad too hectic for my liking. They are fundamentally incompatible roles. Flexible as my employers were in trying to accommodate me so that I'd be able to run the two alongside one another on into the future (something that I did consider) the new venture requires time and flexibility that they just cannot offer me as an employee. And I'm more than ready to move on. I need to focus my energy on the new, not the old. So, as of Christmas Eve, I am now entirely self-employed.

The last few weeks and days in my old role were odd. It's inevitable I guess that a move this significant, after this length of time, would bring up mixed feelings. The outpouring of good wishes, hugs, gifts and general loveliness has been quite overwhelming. It made me sad to say goodbye to some of the people who've been my colleagues, my team, for years. And yet, I have no regrets. That's a sign I feel that I'm doing the right thing. The right thing for me, the right thing for now.

So what's on my mind today is how I am more pleased with my situation than not - scary and insecure as it is. That, although it's early days yet, the life that's unfolding for me feels right. That trusting my instincts is serving me well and I need to develop that. How grateful I am for people who care. How thankful I am for opportunities presented and how I must continue to exercise courage and take them. How being happy is here, now, not only on the horizon or beyond it. And that that's what counts.

It runs in the family...

Mum...

...Dad...

...and Auntie Kenda, are often caught on camera, with a camera in hand.  

We love taking photographs.

Now there's a new generation of enthusiast in the making... I love that!

Waterfront wandering...

Still one of my favourite places to potter around on a sunny day... tucked into the bay under Table Mountain: part international working harbour, part trendy tourist hangout, always plenty to see. And the very best frozen yoghurt south of the equator.

Gentle days and soft greys...

Everything that ever walked or crawled on the face of the earth, swum the depths of the ocean or soared through the skies left its imprint here.

Robert M. Fresco

(1930)

Walking the shores of the Indian Ocean... warm air, warm water... warm heart! Leaving our footprints alongside those of the birds, the fishermen, their dogs and the hippo.


*picture, middle right - adult male sibling foot alongside adult male/female hippo spoor. Not something one often encounters at the beach.

iSimangaliso Safari

iSimangaliso must be the only place on the globe where the oldest land mammal (the rhinoceros) and the world’s biggest terrestrial mammal (the elephant) share an ecosystem with the world’s oldest fish (the coelacanth) and the world’s biggest marine
mammal (the whale)

Nelson Mandela

One translation of the Zulu word isimangaliso is 'a marvel'. Another translates it as a 'miracle and wonder' and indeed, it is. 

iSimangaliso Wetland Park is one of South Africa’s most amazing natural treasures and became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1999, part of a huge nature reserve shared by South Africa, Swaziland and Mozambique. I've visited some of this area before but not for many, many years and it was so lovely to go again in the company of some of my family, including my brother, who's a qualified game ranger and was, therefore, quite useful to have along (okay, he's quite good company too! ;)

The wetland park hosts a variety of ecological marvels, including long sandy beaches, swamps, savannas, grasslands, dunes (including the 2nd largest vegetated dune in the world), lakes and reed wetlands. The extensive and unique combination of ecological diversity is apparently because of its location in a transition zone between subtropical and tropical Africa. The wildlife is abundant and to see them all in their natural habitats... such a pleasure.

Giant leatherback turtles are a common sight on the beaches at the right times of the year (we didn't see any but I am definitely going back for that - it's on the list!) and the area is a migration route for whale sharks, whales and dolphins (my brother and I have had the privilege of swimming and diving with these). There are over 900 hippo in the reserve (I think we saw about 850 of them) and a large population of African Nile crocodiles, currently around 1500 we were told (we saw seven. That was plenty for me - creepy!).

It's hard to even begin to capture the beauty and magic of this place or its residents and my little camera and I and were woefully unequal to the task but I thought I'd share some of what we managed anyway. It's one of those places that really has to be experienced to be truly appreciated and at times I forgot to even lift my lens and was entirely content to just absorb it and be absorbed by it.

Beautiful mosaic map in the ranger station

Some of the aforementioned beaches - sand like soft brown sugar, warm air, Indian Ocean

Binoculars - invaluable!

First hippo sighting, as we sat down to lunch... no binoc's required, she was that close

More hippo... grazing.
Usually more of a nocturnal activity so we were lucky to see as many out.
Cloud cover - great stuff for game watching!

One of the best ways to get close to the inhabitants of a wetland park... is by boat

More hippo... doing what hippo do best

Consider yourself warned!

Casually wandering along the road... Big Five crew. 

These guys are scary fierce - best to keep one's distance

Magnificent kudu...

...enjoying a roadside snack

So close I could have touched her

Some of our most interesting sightings were not Big Five, or even very big, although by beetle standards, this is one of the largest - a dung beetle

Golden Orb spiders - waaayyy too many of these around for my liking - harmless but huge!

Iridescent beauty - as small as my fingernail (yes, that is dung in the top right - saw lots of that!)

Crested Guinea Fowl - this shot really doesn't do their beautiful plumage justice

Whereas I think this one is improved by the blur! (Thanks BG :)

Fading light... so peaceful!

*♥*

In 2011, I wish for you:

Love. In all its many wonderful forms, given and received;

Laughter. Lots of it, often;

Passion and play, every day;

Dreams fulfilled, dreams rekindled and dreams newborn;
Connection. With yourself and with others of like mind and heart;

The excitement and growth of discovery, balanced by the comfort and constancy
of the familiar;
Adventure. Just enough to keep it interesting;

The warmth of times shared and the sanctuary of solitude;

Things that touch your senses, stir your deepest heart and make you glad to be alive!

Tomorrow I'll explore what I wish for me, through my chosen word for 2011.... In the meantime, I hope your year's already off to a fabulous start and that day one unfolds exactly right.

With love and light, K

*♥*

[a little creative license taken above, with a photograph of this... one of my bookshelf favourites]

Under the tree...

All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love and am loved.

Leo Tolstoy

(1828-1910)

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer 

and more beautiful.

Norman Vincent Peale

(1898-1993)

There is no ideal Christmas; only the one Christmas you decide to make as a reflection of your values, desires, affections, and traditions.

Bill McKibben

(1960)

From my heart to yours... love, and glowing wishes for whatever makes your festive holiday time beautiful, magical and a reflection of you!

K ♡ xox

Where salty and sweet meet...

I love estuaries. There's something special about places where rivers and seas meet, display the definite and distinct influence of both, and combine to create an ecosystem all of their own: a mingling of both fresh and saltwater, where changeable oceanic tidal forces meet rivers that are travelling usually at their most sedate pace but are still unstoppable in their mission to join with the sea.... However calmly or fiercely they collide, and the extent to which this occurs varies hugely depending on the geography they've helped create in the past, whether it's a brackish lagoon or an only slightly diluted rough sea inlet, they meet. And we have an estuary. It's almost like a love story of opposites. And they come together to create some of the richest and most beautiful natural habitats on the planet - both in the water and along their shores. When I volunteered at a marine aquarium some years ago I used to know a lot more details about these special environments but I recall figures suggesting that a huge proportion of the human population of the world is settled on estuaries and nearby coastal areas. It's something phenomenal like fifty to sixty percent - I forget the exact numbers. (Frightening when I realise how much stuff I know I knew once but can no longer claim to know 'cause those brain cells are all fuzzy now. Scary!)

Anyway, the area I was in down in Devon is a huge and remarkable estuary of the kind known as a Ria (I did actually remember this, which is a relief as it signifies that not all the grey matter has turned to a sieve yet!), and this means that the estuary is disproportionately large in relation to the size of the rivers that flow into it because of a change of sea level and so the influence of the sea tends to be way more evident than that of the river or rivers that join it: the smell of salt in the air, gulls, tides, waves, beaches with briny pebbles and seashells and driftwood... Lovely!

One of the delights of this particular area to me was how when the tide was in, there were almost no beaches and yet, when the tide withdrew, lots and lots of beautiful little sandy coves were revealed. It was a delight to walk them and from one to the other along the coastal paths that connect them like a string of jewels. This area of the country has been declared an AONB and I would vouch for that. Even in the rain.

And when the sun came out, they truly sparkled, these little beaches. Just like gems. The bottom photographs in each set of three are of the little cove directly in front of the hotel I stayed in and the very last one below is the view from my balcony on Saturday morning. The sunshine only lasted a few hours but it was so lovely to see it.

AONB? I thought so. How 'bout you?

p.s. apparently the little hotel I was in is one that Rod Stewart likes to stay in when he's in the area, which is still quite regularly I'm told although I believe he lives full-time in the US now. I was a little surprised to discover this. Not an obvious choice for a rock star of means. It's an absolutely lovely little place - family run for years and years, only about 30 very spacious and comfortable rooms (if mine was anything to go by), with great friendly and very professional service - but hardly rock and roll. Granted, it is still out of season so wonderfully quiet but I was probably the youngest guest by a decade or two (which I suppose is the right demographic for Mr Stewart, now that I think about it) and the decor, although immaculate, was very reminiscent of the 70s - maybe the very early 80s in the more recently updated sections - and not in a cool, hip-and-retro kind of a way. I did not spot Rod. But I did see several teased and lacquered hairdos I think he would have approved of.

p.p.s. if you are ever in the area of Salcombe, I would highly recommend this place for a bite to eat. Dick and Will know how to do seafood, and hospitality. Their tempura prawns and squid with sweet chili and wasabi is one of the most perfectly cooked and delicious things I've eaten in a long time. Washed down with a chilled pear cider. And again, the location... gorgeous!

p.p.p.s several people expressed an interest in the ponies from the post below and if you'd like to know a little more about them, this might be worth a peek.  For those who prefer the Cliffs notes version, my friend C, who knows her ponies, tells me: they are Exmoor ponies - the most ancient of British native wild ponies - and apparently this little herd is a semi-wild or semi-feral one (this accounts for the fact that they allowed me to get really quite close without any signs of concern, because they are used to hikers and walkers) and are treasured as part of the natural heritage as well as being factored into the conservation grazing strategies of the area.

Here's another picture, which shows the distinctive light markings around the muzzle that makes them easy to recognise as not being Dartmoor ponies, in case you should ever wish to make that distinction in future...

...and just because they're adorable.