The Simple Life

When we first arrived at the Haven Hotel a couple weeks ago, I thought I was in a new world. The hotel is situated in the heart of the Cwebe Nature Reserve, which makes up the Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve. I live in a thatched roof cottage where I am constantly surrounded by horses, birds, and even a zebra, and can see the ocean from my window. It’s very different from the States, but it’s the simple life, which I greatly enjoy and missed out on. Sometimes you just need to take a break from the constant going in the States and just appreciate the world that we have in front of us. Being here for me is getting back in touch with the no-frills lifestyle and taking time to appreciate the little things that I would sometimes forget about back in State College.

However, last week I took the simple life a step further. I just got back from spending a week at another nature reserve called Mkambati. With no power and living in a remote location by a river, it was definitely a different experience. When we first arrived late at night, after one of our vans getting stuck on the “road” leading to the lodge which was little more than a path beaten down by the animals, I opened the kitchen cabinet and a few cockroaches climbed out. I instantly thought, what am I doing here? However, within the next day, I began to appreciate this new way of living. We were greeted by monkeys sitting outside in the trees on a daily basis. I spent my time there doing fieldwork, which consisted of watching the various animals on the reserve and counting the number of bites each one took. As I sat there looking out at the beautiful and vast landscape every day, I just couldn’t stop taking in the beauty and appreciating this life that I had in front of my eyes.