Charlotte's Life Changes After Taking a Walk on the Wildside

Charlotte was one of five women taking a Walk on the Wildside, together with Melanie, a masseur and spiritual healer, Louise, a manager at a prominent insurance company, Shirley, unemployed and diagnosed as manic-depressive, and Mandy - our Ecopsychologist friend and facilitator. 

On arrival to begin our Walk on the Wildside, as we trundle down the bumpy, red-dirt road which climbs the hill and seems to disappear into the azure-blue sky. Reaching the pinnacle of the hill we peer over the other side and gaze at the expansive, sparkling green-blue haze of Jozini Dam which seems to float on top of the surrounding land. The dam smiles back at our gaze with millions of sparkling dimples. Her shores are an interplay of shrubby, deep green, woodland trees, interspersed with thorny acacia trees and patches of wide-open savannah. 

After settling into our tented accommodation, Charlotte stretches out on a deck chair next to the enticing, oval pool. The temperature is 36 degrees. The purple-green Lebombo Mountains laze in the background like lounging, lizards reflecting our own languidness. Charlotte is at ease for the first time in a very long while; her previously taut muscles slump into the khaki-coloured canvas of her deckchair. She is normally clad in dull black, but on this occasion sensually aware and more alive in her current surroundings she chooses to wear a bright vinyl, turquoise costume, that slides softly over the length of her stout, slightly over-weight, torso, and thighs.

She is entertained by the squeals of resident, soft grey, furred vervet monkeys leaping effortlessly from branch to branch of the thorny, acacia trees. They stare quizzically at her from a camouflage of leaves, with heads bobbing up and down to measure the distance between her and them. The squawks of yellow billed hornbills object to their mischievous movements.

Mandy sits down next to Charlotte to explain the agenda will for the five days they will be spending together as a group of adventurers.

The stinging, strength of the afternoon sun starts to subside. Soon the sun is a setting, crimson half-ball in the sky sliding behind the black, already-asleep, mountains. The swirl of her ragged, petticoat colours of wispy orange and yellow clouds change chameleon-like into magentas and purples that flow over the quietening bush before she says good night and disappears.

After a few more moments of cocktail-chatter, dinner is ready to be served.

The next day while on safari we come across a herd of elephant mothers who immediately laager protectively around their youngsters and try to keep us away from their “children”, with loud trumpeting. We quietly share space together before they meander into the shade of the nearby trees. We too move into the shade of a large tortilla tree, fold-out canvas chairs, receive a mug of tea and some snacks and settle into a reflective quietness for our daily group discussion. We close out eyes and listen to the rustle of the wind in the grass, and the chatter of a group of birds named the 'shlegebephas' in the local dialect, which means 'laughing women'. Opening our eyes we journal in the books we each received on arrival.

Charlotte is thinking about how protective the elephant mothers were of their children, which meant the children could rumble around playfully without fear. She is angry about her divorce and hates her bullying ex-husband and his aggressive lawyer. Charlotte begins to realise however that she is not a victim and powerless in the divorce process. She is inspired by the elephant mothers she is observing to ‘laager’ protectively around her inner self, and announces:

“I am going to downscale from a house to a flat”, and then act on what I have always dreamt of”.

“And what exactly is that?” Mandy asks

“I want to fly a small light aircraft and be a pilot”, Charlotte pronounces with a newfound determination.

“Wow that is life changing”, Mandy encourages, “what a big step from feeling like a rejected ex-wife to becoming a pilot!”

“I’m just going to do it part time at first”, Charlotte explains.

 “I will need to carry on with my accounting job so that I can pay for my flying lessons, and take care of myself and my daughter Lindy”.

“You certainly have given this a lot of thought”, Mandy affirms. “Sounds like a sound plan”.

Growing in stature, now that she has stepped out with courage to tell everyone her dreams, Charlotte adds an additional desire: “And I am going to lose weight”, she announces with personal pride.

“Well done, Charlotte”, Louise congratulates. “You are really starting to take charge of your life”.

Charlotte calls me a year after our Walk on the Wildside adventure to tell me that all her dreams and desires were coming true: she’d lost seven kilograms in weight, sold her house and was enjoying her second pilot’s lesson. In time Charlotte accomplishes her ultimate dream, which is to become the pilot of a light aircraft. Thanks to the elephants that inspired this dramatic change in her life, she begins flying voluntarily for the Bataleurs, a conservation aviation group.

 All these life happenings were seeded from the personal understandings gained on that Walk on the Wildside wilderness encounter.

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