Born in the old Western Transvaal, Annemarie van der Walt is a true country girl who has found her slice of heaven in a quaint and quirky village just a little off the beaten track.
Annemarie, or An as she is known, grew up in the City of Gold and went on to graduate in political science and anthropology at Tuks. She started work at Beeld after graduating, but soon after left SA to work in Germany. “When I returned, I spent a short stint on the editorial staff for the South African Yearbook at the Department of Communication, then went back to Beeld.” An stayed on there until 2003, when she left full-time employ to become a freelance columnist for them, which she has been doing for the last 17 years. An is also the voice behind the word programme and press releases of Innibos, a task she loves. “The world of books is also calling to me again, but all I can say now is watch this space!” she adds mysteriously.
An came upon the little hamlet of Kaapsehoop purely by chance. “We were on a forced detour on the road between Pretoria and Marloth Park, I think it was sometime in 1999. I fell under the spell of the village and visited a number of times before I decided to purchase property there, which I did in December 2000.” The one An found was nothing short of a gem, the late Queen Mother’s royal coach which she had used during the 1947 Royal Tour of South Africa. “It was brought to Kaapsehoop by Richard Huggett, who restored it beautifully,” she explains. When An first moved to Kaapsehoop with her daughters, they initially rented a small house, moving into the train while their own home was being built. “Rikarda (now 27) and Anke (now 24), still remember this as the best time ever,” she says, “even though we had so little in material belongings. In December 2007, we moved into the newly completed house and it has been a haven ever since, a place where family and friends feel welcome and cared for.”
An’s girls are on the other side of the world now, but to them this will always be home. “Rikarda is in Bali at the moment, but moves around a lot since she and her soulmate, Robin Page, work on the super yachts,” says An. Anke is in South Korea, but will be moving to Washington, USA, next year. “She is newly wed to Dave Miguel (from the USA, but they met in South Korea), so I now officially have a son as well,” she says, laughing happily. “Sadly, I could not attend the wedding, but I am leaving on a jet plane for the first time in nine years in September to visit the daughters in Bali and South Korea … I’m counting the sleeps, I promise you!”
An is no stranger to travelling, and says she feels a little restless having kept still for so long. “That European adventure in my youth, when I worked in Germany and globetrotted all over, set the tone for me.” She has travelled extensively since then.
“When the daughters turned 13, I took each one on a ‘Europe 101’ tour – alas, they took the bigger world to heart and flew the nest far and wide.”
Apart from Europe, An has visited most of the southern African countries, as well as Tanzania a few years ago. “Oh, the Ngorongoro Crater! And Masai Mara in Kenya,” she muses. “How I loved that. And Mozambique will always be a firm favourite. I think I was Portuguese in a previous life!” she laughs. An’s absolute favourite, though, is the Pafuri region in the Kruger National Park, on the banks of the Levhuvhu River. “Last year, I hiked the Nyalaland Trial, and next week I am on my way with two of my sisters and a few other girlfriends to the Makuleke concession area for a birding expedition. I can’t wait.”
Finding solace in nature and stillness is something An finds crucial, especially in today’s upside-down world. “You have to deliberately make the choice to cut out the noise,” she says, “whether it is politics, the heated and opinionated mud-slinging on social media, or just people who for the life of them cannot let the sun shine over others. I am always wary of buzzwords, but being ‘mindful’ in your daily living is important.”
“Taste the coffee, play with the dog, and make time to look at a sunrise or sunset. Surround yourself with readers – they always are the best conversationalists!”
“I often stand still to think about what I allow to have an impact on my little life. Can I do something about it? Often the answer is no. To know about something (the war in Ukraine, all the million heavy things and even load-shedding!) does not mean I must allow it to take away or taint my daily happiness. It is an ongoing act of choice. Sometimes I am better at it than other days, but I always try to look for the good. I am inspired by people with emotional integrity and honesty, and parents, especially mothers with young children who keep all the balls of daily living in the air. Nature – there is so, so much to be in awe of, every single day. The quality of light, the smell of soil, the birdlife … I can go on and on! And of course, I read. That is my happy place,” she adds.
Wanderlust and jet plane trips aside, for the time being, An has both feet firmly planted in the Lowveld. Following on from what she says about Luna and An finding inspiration and appreciating the beauty of the world around you, she explains why so much of that joy is found right on her doorstep, in Kaapsehoop.
“What I love most by far is the freedom of movement; I need to take a hike every day for my own sanity as well as for the sake of Luna, my dog and soulmate. And since Nunu the cat joined us from Pro-Life 18 months ago, we are now three ‘ducks in a row’! I love the rocky landscape, but am also drawn to the Blue Swallow Reserve and the grassveld there. Walking through the plantations is yet another experience, and with Battery Creek Waterfall on our doorstep, I really am spoilt for choice.” It is this freedom of movement that was the exact reason why An left the city in the first place. That, and also so that Rikarda and Anke
could experience a place where time is still such a luxury.
The sense of community is also important to this inspiring woman, who bubbles over with enthusiasm for life. Although there are more residents now than way back then, An is part of a core group of like-minded friends who have loads of fun together.
“I always say that small-town living teaches you to get along with people from all walks of life. Other than in a city where a suburb is maybe more homogeneous in terms of class and so on, here you have society as a whole in a concentrated form: from the village magnate to the village idiot, and everyone in between!”
