Counting steps

When I was in Namibia I was following around baboons in a desert landscape. We followed them all day, from sunrise to sunset. And even though I loved the experience, it wasn’t always easy.

It was the African winter, which meant near freezing night temperatures while you’re sleeping in your tent. Then there were the early rises, before sunset (maybe around 5AM), to make sure we’d get to the troop in time. That required a physically hard walk, which was especially daunting if the baboons were on a far away sleeping cliff. There was the carrying around five litres of water to stay properly hydrated during the long warm days. And only then there was the actual follow of the troop during the day, wherever they went.

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Light of life

While I was visiting Glasgow a while back, I walked through Kelvingrove Park on my way to Glasgow Vineyard Church. Because of a silly mistake I was rushing to get there in time. Sometimes, though, while I walk, I feel like there’s something I need to pay attention to. Something that’s more important than the meeting or thing that’s preoccupying my mind. 

That’s when I noticed a fir tree. It looked incredibly beautiful and green, with some sort of green berries at the tips of it’s leaves. So full and lush, at first sight. It drew me closer. But then, as I got closer, I noticed that it was only the outside that was green. The inside was leaflessy brown. No sunlight could penetrate the thick layer of leafs shielding its inside. 

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Stagnant water

Do you like waterfalls? If so, how do you like them? Do you like to look at them? Or do you like to jump off them? When we think of waterfalls, we think of powerful displays of nature. Litres of water tumbling down meters of substrate. But we risk forgetting that the waterfall is part of a river. And only a short part in that. Some parts of the exact same river might be slow-streaming, maybe even stagnant.

Have you ever noticed that these stagnant parts are even part of the waterfall itself? Rock formations give shelter to the fast pacing water. Small or big pools turn around in the same circles, over and over again. However, the slightest change in position of the water could completely change its state. It would result in the water being violently pulled back into the river, flowing along with its course.

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Relationships

What is the meaning of life? Such a big question, with millennia of thoughts, words and written texts dedicated to it. I’m not going to pretend that I have the answer, but this morning a thought grew in my mind. That one of the most important things in our lives, if not the most important, must be relationships. Relationships with our friends, family, significant other and/or God. We’re social animals, after all. 

If relationships are so important to us humans, why then do we sometimes live as if they’re not a priority for us? Why do we fill our time with work, with volunteering, with projects that make us feel important? Why do we sometimes (or often, depending on your personality) care more about what strangers think of us than how our close ones see us? Why do we tire ourselves out so much with other things, that we become grumpy and impatient with the people around us?

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Persistence

Recently my boyfriend and I were in Scotland, where we camped next to Loch Achray. From our tent we had a beautiful view of Ben A’an, a 454 metres (1,491 ft) high mountain. Yes, I’m aware of the fact that in the UK a mountain is officially defined as a peak of 600 metres (1,969 ft) or higher. However, given that the highest point in the Netherlands is 322 metres (1,058 ft), I personally classify Ben A’an to be a mountain.

We woke up to a clear day and the tantalising view across the lake seemed to draw us towards Ben A’an. Described by my ‘Wild’ guidebook as ‘giving perhaps the best views-to-effort ratio of any Scottish mountain’, we knew we had to make the ascent. So up we went, my boyfriend sometimes slowing me down when my enthusiasm would make me speed up to an unsustainable pace. We saw a beautiful mansion disguised as a castle, heard a stream rumble, passed a bridge and walked along a big sad stretch of cleared trees. And then the steep part came. The part about which I questionably asked: ‘Ehm, do you think it’s that peak?’. Until we caught the glimpse of a bright red jacket and realised that, indeed, the last part of the climb would be that steep.

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Life’s a dance

Every year in May there’s a night full of arts in Liverpool: LightNight. There are exhibitions and workshops, there is live music and live performances. After delicious street food at the Bombed Out Church we wandered over to the Baltic Triangle to experience a tribute to the late Donna Summer. On the way there an iconic building next to Liverpool’s Chinese Arch caught our eye: the former Great George Street Congregational Chapel. One of those buildings that always seems to have closed doors, building intrigue of the hidden treasures inside. But this night the doors were wide open. Some christmas lights drew our attention and our curiosity drew us in.

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Breaking point

I have this very ‘Lifehack’-approved storage system for my earrings. Two rubber bands, one at the top of my mirror and one at the bottom. So convenient: when you’re dressed you can look at your reflection and immediately decide which pair of earrings match your current outfit.

The rubber band came into use roughly one year ago, and is starting to show signs of wear and tear. Last night I hung my earrings back before going to bed and I noticed the ruptures and weak spots. The storage system is reaching its breaking point.

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En passant

While I focussed on Steinbeck, the baboon I was following, something attracted my attention out of the corner of my eye. In  between the scarce bushes a steenbok walked in our direction. He look at me for a moment, after which he lost interest: the baboons didn’t seem to think I was a danger, so the otherwise so skittish steenbok seemed to draw the same conclusion. The next 15 minutes he was browsing next to us, searching for fresh green leaves in the arid desert. Only giving way to the few baboons that approached him a bit too close, he imperturbably continued his path, until he moved out of my sight.

Like Jonah on the mountain

Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.”
Jonah 4:6-8, NIV


In Tsaobis I felt like Jonah every now and then. He sat on a hill overlooking Nineveh, I regularly sat on a hill overlooking baboons. I can relate most, however, to how he must have felt when his tree, and with that his shade, was taken from him. Continue reading

Emotional encounters

Average maximum temperature: 24,1 °C
Average minimum temperature: 7,4 °C
Sunrise: 06:34
Sunset:  17:22

Olifantsrus, Ethosa
In the dark of the night I saw him slowly moving towards me. Instead of moving around the tight bushes, he passed right through the scarce undergrowth. The branches scraped his grey skin, which made a scraping sound. He continued along the waterside seemingly unbothered, with a clear goal in mind. At five meters from the observation hide the elephant came to a stop at the waterhole, under the window where I was sitting. In the red light I saw how he used his trunk to carefully search for water. A loud slurping sound grew from below me, after which he moved his trunk to his mouth to empty it: it sounded as if someone emptied a bucket of water. Every time he repeated this ritual, I amazed myself about the peculiarity of his trunk. I was so close I could see every muscle in his trunk contract. Big wrinkles showed, especially when his trunk was at his lips. Breathless I watched the impressive show. How did I deserve this, crossed my mind while the emotions got to me, that I get to experience all of this?

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