It's the middle of the night and I'm sleeping soundly. I lie in my sleeping bag on my sleeping mat. The last three days we have been in the wilderness of Umfelozi, South Africa. Umfelozi is a game reserve about 300 km above Durban. We are a group of a total of eight men, two of whom are guides and I am the facilitator of the group. Peter, a white South African, is one of the guides. He is a true naturalist and a true craftsman. The other guide is Artist, a warm and humble Zulu. He has the most incredible smile. The participants are men in leading positions in Dutch society. What we all have in common is that we all want to get closer to ourselves, by immersing ourselves in nature. This is how we want to experience who we are, what we stand for and how we live our lives. The night in Umfelozi is full of goodness and peace.
The sound of an elephant wakes me up. I smile when I realize where I am. I see that the moon has gone down and I see billions and billions of stars. The Milky Way stretches above me. It's a beautiful view. How wonderful, that we can see the Galaxy in all its glory. I see light years away and at the same time our solar system as part of it.
"Owieete, Owieete", a hyena is nearby. A little later: “Oewoemf, oewoemf”, the cry of a lion in the distance. Then I hear splashes. I'm sure it's the elephant by the river. I enjoy all these sounds with all my heart. Then someone gently taps my foot. It turns out to be JP. It's my turn to be the night watch. I put my pants on and walk to the fire, where I sit down. It is a small fire made of djabuti wood. This wood always burns, including in the rain, because it naturally contains an oily substance.
How breathtaking the wilderness of Umfelozi is. It has the highest concentration of dangerous animals in the world. We will be part of nature here for a week, walking with a 17-kilogram backpack, without tents, without watches, without iphones or other modern devices. We follow in the same way as our ancestors, who wandered here two hundred thousand years ago. This is where humanity began. There are no lodges, No Roads and no safari vans in this part of Umfelozi. It is pure and unspoiled nature. Here we are the guests of nature and behave accordingly. We respect everything around us and we are mindful when we move in or out of the comfort zones of the local residents. In return, we get respect from the animals around us. This will be the case every time.
My night watch is quiet. Every 10 minutes I walk along the perimeter of the camp. I estimate the time between rounds, since I did not bring a watch. With a strong flashlight I stare into the bush and the surrounding area. I pay special attention when I see the reflection of prying eyes.
Earlier that evening, Peter suggested that tomorrow's walk will be different. Since we will be staying in this camp for two nights, we will not have to carry our heavy backpacks. He suggested taking a long walk to the second river, the White Umfelozi. He told us that he was considering asking one of us to walk in front tomorrow, to guide us on the right path, based on their intuition. But he reconsidered and suggested something else. He said that he had noticed that part of the group, for example, at the sight of a giraffe, would shout loudly: "Hey, look, a giraffe." This spoiled the joy of seeing and feeling an animal for yourself. If you want to point out something, then a small gesture is enough to attract the attention of others. To experience this, Peter suggested that we all stay quiet for a day, starting after the Indaba the next morning. He asked for everyone's permission. JP said that he is not looking forward to this period of silence, because he is quite a talker. But in the end, like the others, he agreed.
The sunrise the next morning is beautiful. After breakfast we gather in a small circle. Peter explains the principle of the "day of silence" again. He continues with a short, guided meditation, in which we focus on the big and small sounds around us, on the Earth and the universe, on the feelings in our body and finally on the connection of all this with our heart. For all of us, this is an intense experience. Peter, after a moment of silence, puts down the baton. I continue this beautiful meditation with the Indaba and mention the importance of silence in our hearts. Silence can be intense, like The Silence of the last notes dying away when a concert is over. Just a pause between the notes often makes a piece of music really beautiful. The power of silence is also the ability to confidently wait for the correct answer to come. Waiting for the answer, which a child would give. Waiting for the child within us. The child within us who was covered by layers of education, religion, conditioning and dogmas.
Sometimes we are able to remember the child inside us, these are precious moments. I put down the talking stick and everyone follows Peter's example. Each of us picks up the stick, holds it in silence and puts it back on the ground. The 24-hour period of silence has begun.
We pack our daypacks. At a leisurely pace we walk over the hill and over the bush plains in the direction of the White Umfelozi. It is a scenic walk. We encounter impalas, giraffes, zebras and a Buffalo. Arriving at the river, we look for a shady place to have lunch. We place the food on the coneflowers we have deposited and use them as plates. This is done in silence. A small gesture is enough. Then we have a long siesta.
During our walk back to the camp we come across a beautiful young rhino. He sees us and takes a few steps to the side. We keep quiet and watch. He turns around and moves on. After a few hours we arrive at the camp. Despite the light travel bags, our hike was tough, as it was a hot thirty degrees under a tight blue sky. One of us gives signals and we descend to the river bank. How wonderful it is to feel the cool water flowing over my body. All fatigue is washed away and taken away by the river. We scoop sand filtered water into the water bags and bring them back to camp. Each of us finds a place to write or meditate in solitude. After silently preparing and eating dinner, we go to sleep. The sky is filled with billions of stars. The Milky Way is Breathtaking.
The next morning we wake up early to experience the sunrise from the high ground of our camp. No words are still spoken. It's a fascinating time. We see vultures, which use the Thermal Current to rise to great heights, where they can see their bid from above. We sit together and I speak for the first time in 24 hours. I open the Indaba with the words:
'Oh what a beautiful morning
Oh what a beautiful day
I got a nice feeling
Everything goes to my liking’
Boy Van Droffelaar, PhD
