Zoë Scholtz

In 2019 hubby and I glibly agreed to join a small group of friends on a trip to (what I perceived at the time to be) a mystical, yet scary place referred to as 'the Richtersveld'. The intent was to embark on our adventure in 2020. I had absolutely no idea what I was agreeing to! The Ai-Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park is found to the northeast of the Northern Cape. The mighty Orange River flows through the park and forms the border between South Africa and Namibia. This unique park in the SanParks stable is the only arid biodiversity hotspot in the world and was declared a World Heritage site in 2007.  A simple keyword search on Google confirmed that a sojourn to this rocky, rugged terrain wasn't for the faint-hearted. Initially confident in our own abilities and with our  fellow adventurers being experienced overlanders - we were unconcerned.  Then the global pandemic introduced a smallish  complication by including the imposition of travel restrictions. The stri...

Mom and Dad instilled a love for camping in me as a child. Trips to the South Coast, visits to Cape Town, and the Drakensberg were just some of the places we frequented. Everyone was expected to help and we each had a clearly defined task. I became proficient at wielding a rubber mallet, folding tents into bags, and earned a degree in tripping over guy ropes and tent pegs.  Aside from the obvious aspects, camping taught me useful life skills such as how to adapt and make a plan when things go wrong; magically being able to fit awkward shapes into impossibly small spaces; and the importance of planning in advance. It was also during these holidays that I grew to love the outdoors.  Whilst dad loved camping, he was adamant there should always be functioning facilities, I was thus accustomed to communal ablutions, flushing toilets, electrified campsites, and running water. Little did I know that such luxuries would all become optional extras when my husband and I started with our...

Times are tough, global economies are struggling, unemployment levels are high and most of us are battling to make ends meet. Yet, in the midst of all of this, hubby and I found ourselves in the somewhat bizarre situation where our homemade apricot jam and peach chutney were in high demand. In fact, we couldn’t produce stock fast enough to keep up with the orders. Weird? You bet. Hard work? Absolutely. Was it worth it? Yes. (Although it's probably safer to ask this question once we’ve had a few months to recover.) To rewind a little, some six years ago “we” (meaning the hubby) decided it would be a super idea to plant some fruit trees in our backyard. With somewhat limited space in our garden, we settled on a tiny peach tree and an even smaller apricot tree. In 2020 both these trees made their presence felt [you can read more about that insanity here: The Fruit Situation ]. In a valiant attempt to avoid a repeat performance of 2020 we planned ahead in 2021. One thing led ...