I was on a call last week or the other, where I learned one of the team mates from our partner studio moved to Cape Town recently. Earlier today, I joked with a friend that I was escaping the winter. This brought about thoughts of my first winter experience in Cape Town. So with most things I process lately, I write.
Cape Town’s tourism scene knows how to turn up summer. From the teaming wine farms to rooftop parties in the city bowl, the warmer months bring a hive of activity to “Little Europe“. But come winter, the crowds thin out and rumour has it the prices drop. As with white linen sheets over furniture, the clouds from Table Mountain settle over the city, marking a quiet hibernation.
For some, winter is not just cold. It’s heavy. It can bring loneliness, fatigue and a sense of disconnection. The grey skies seem endless. The rain can trap you indoors. And if you’re prone to seasonal depression or simply feeling “off” the season may be unbearable.
Now, I do not want to be a wet blanket, the thought of food and heating costs are already a heavy burden for some. So in being optimistic, Cape Town’s winter isn’t just something to endure. It is an opportunity to slow down and reconnect with yourself in ways summer simply does not allow.
And this is the angle I would like to share – how to find wellness in a Cape Town winter.
A dear friend of mine Jean-Luc lives and breathes by the words of Albert Camus:
“In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.”
Albert Camus
With the quote, let me pause and park the thought here while I compile a list of some of the things that helped me survive a Cape Town winter. To share the small nuggets of manna and the warm rays of sunshine.
Some of the things I will be thinking about are my cozy corners, body movement, foraging, eating and meditative activities that might help some survive.
While looking through some research articles on the relationship between winter and the use of recreational drugs and antidepressants, I came across the word ‘ethnobotanicals’.
This seems like an interesting thing to read up because, if you’ve been to Cape Town, you may have seen the sakmanne (Sack Cloth People) dotted around the city selling local and indigenous plant medicine.
Theirs is an interesting story. Here is an article that shares more.
In the meantime I share an image I took with a friend of mine, Fabio. We went cold-dipping in the thick of winter at dawn. We both reported terrible colds soon after. Boys.
P.S – Wim Hof becomes a popular phrase around this time of year. Read up on the guy if you haven’t already.