DAY 1-2 // SWELLENDAM

My first stop after Cape Town was Swellendam, one of the oldest towns in South Africa. I decided to stay there since the town is located just next to a mountain and I could see great opportunities for pictures. During my two nights there I did three long hikes in the Marloth Nature Reserve and hardly met any people. After feeling a bit unsafe now and then in Cape Town it was wonderful just walking where ever I wanted and also alone, even as the sun was coming down. It's definitely something that I take for granted back home. Swellendam is a quiet place and I think 24 h would have been enough. But I needed that dose of nature to get the anxiety out of my system that I carried with me from leaving Cape Town. Nature truly is like cotton for my soul (a Swedish saying which I love). The backpacker place where I stayed was also nice with a lot of animals around and that is always beautiful. It was located just where the hiking tracks start and to be honest I never went into town, I just didn't have the need for it.

CAPE TOWN // LAST PART

Tomorrow I leave Cape Town behind and start my trip towards Johannesburg and my dear friend Josefine. It will take me 21 days to get there by bus and along the way I will make several stops. I'm looking forward in seeing her again, it feels like it was forever ago and also just like last week we met. We bonded over our passion for horses 20 years ago and have kept in contact even if our lives are very different these days. It feels good to have her as my final destination since I am experiencing a bit of anxiety, it's the kind that always sneaks up on me when it's time to leave a place I've connected with. We even have a word for it in Swedish called resfeber which means travel fever. There is a part of me thinking that these last weeks might have been the highlight of my trip. I know that's silly, still there is so much to see and experience and I'm trying to talk some sense into myself. I didn't think I would grow rots in this place but it has happened and pulling them up is a bit painful. I have met some pretty wonderful people and seen some pretty magical places. I know I am at my best state of mind when I get to create and I'm hoping to be able to turn these emotions that I am feeling at the moment into some art. 
Since my last post I've done a few more cool test shoots with models, danced my feet sore to David Guetta on the Ultra festival, gone to a gorgeous lagoon with friends, tested delicious wine in Stellenbosch, learned that in ayurveda my element is fire and gone on a few awesome road trips with Siggie. He is such a funny guy and I am gonna miss hanging out with him. I experienced cuteness overload when I met the penguins at Boulders beach and was blown away by nature while hiking the area on the most southern tip of Africa, Cape of good hope. I leave this place behind with wonderful new memories and some pretty sweet new friends. In a few weeks I will hopefully be able to share what it's been like to backpack trough a small part of this beautiful country that has gotten it's hold of me.