Today I went for one of my last drives/walks in a part of the South African cape peninsula I adore. Not last for ever, of course, but last for a while as I prepare to head back into the field in a couple of days for another field season. I always get this weird feeling when this time rolls around, particularly when I'm returning to a field site I've been to before.
It's the knowledge of being somewhat isolated, the knowledge of giving up on certain creature comforts and basic necessities. No pizza. No romantic strolls on the beach. In a lot of cases very little privacy and shared facilities for bathing and dining. Always close quarters with a small group of people, whom, no matter how well you get along with, you will start to be irrationally irritated by before your 2 or 3 or 6 months together are up. The trade off of course is that you get to spend your days outdoors, in nature, often in places few others get to go. In beautiful mountains and dark, rustling forests. In deserts with night air as crisp and clear as the stars hanging above your head.
With all this knocking about in my mind, I headed out today with Roxy, the dog I'm house-sitting, for one of my last beach walks in a long while and decided I'd like to share some images with you of this stunning strip of coast:
This ridiculously cute hound is Roxy. The very epitome of everything I look for in a dog: active, intelligent and well-behaved
Roxy and I set out driving along the stunning strip of road running between Kommetjie and Scarborough in the Cape:
Slangkop ("snakehead") lighthouse. The area around boasts a number of smaller species which frequent it such as mongooses, porcupines and even baboons
A slice of mountain jutting into the sea
Just round the corner from Kommetjie and Slangkop is the aptly named: Misty Cliffs
Some stunning houses perch precariously on the mountainside here, overlooking the icy Atlantic
Finally on the beach in Scarborough, Roxy and I get to play with some waves and seaweed
And, as always, there are local surfers out:
Flotillas in the mist
It is on days like this, doing the most pleasantly normal of things, such as walking the dog that I think on the things you give up to pursue a life of travel. Pets are of course just not an option. Having a home, stable job, planned future also tend to fall by the wayside, and yet... What you're trading all that for is a life of adventure. An unconventional life.
There are certainly times, sitting having dinner with family, the normality of a household full of animals and love seeping into your bones that you wonder: is it worth it? And the answer that always comes to me is that yes, for now, it is. It's not going to be forever but staying put in one place is simply an impossibility when you have such itchy feet. Eventually, the scale will tip. And the idea of simply staying put for a few years will seem far more enticing than an endless voyage of discovery. When that will be, or for how long, is however, anybody's guess.
(Sorry for the poor quality of some images, they were taken with an iPad)