We were a privileged lot, growing up on the coast of what is now KwaZuluNatal. While sugar cane proliferated, there were mangrove swamps and, at the edge of the village where I lived, you could wander along a wooden boardwalk and find yourself surrounded by what Floridians would probably refer to as swamp grass. It was stunningly wild and – despite the hotels and miniature malls and houses and flats – seemed relatively unspoilt.
I guess we weren't so distracted by screens and cellphones back then; I could watch maurauding vervet monkeys for hours, stare at seagulls, observe the waves and not get bored. Maybe we were less sophisticated, perhaps we were hicks, living in a kind of obliviousness while believing that the biggest threat to our planet was nuclear…
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Getaway (Digital) - 1 Issue, October 2022