Somewhere Over the Rainbow: Saying Goodbye to Our Karoo Inventures
One of my greatest joys over the past few years has been our Inventure experiences held out in the Karoo. Our very first Inventure took place in 2022 on a farm in the Klein Karoo, and since then we have found our way to the Great Karoo, on the most magnificent stretch of untouched private land.
Over the past five years, we have held nine Inventure experiences, welcomed 42 guests, including four who returned for consecutive years, with ages ranging from 23 to 62.
I have loved every moment of being out in the Karoo with our guests, sharing the magic and beauty of this ancient land, a place and space that I have come to call my ‘home away from home’.
We have been gifted with the most extraordinary few years, and as I reflect on all that has unfolded, I am filled with immense gratitude for the privilege of what we have created together and what we have been able to offer others.
With that said, I have decided to bring this chapter of our Inventure experiences in the Karoo to a close. While we will no longer be offering our twice-yearly, pre-scheduled experiences, the possibility of returning to the Karoo, or venturing into new landscapes in a different form, remains very much alive.
Space to breathe, space to rest, space to reimagine and space for renewed inspiration is what feels necessary in this season.
Community and creativity; these are the two words that, for me, encapsulate the past five years, as nothing about an Inventure in the Karoo was created in isolation. Every detail of these experiences was intentionally crafted in community, alongside the most incredible humans who have brought their generosity, creativity, skills and care to making it all possible.
I want to extend my immense gratitude to the following people, each of whom has contributed to the magic of these experiences and whom I am privileged to call friends:
- Dawid and Karlien de Wet, Jeffrey, Steffan and the Karoo 360 team
- Julian Murray of Bloemhof Farm
- Dale and Kelly Jackson of Riverdene Farm
- MC van Rensburg of Slater and Dutch
- David McNaughton of Karoo Connections
- Jen Rubidge of Te Water House
By design, an Inventure experience is a creative process, and I have loved this aspect of it. It has challenged, changed and inspired me, year after year.
Beyond all else, there has been one guiding intention behind the design of every experience: that each person would feel seen and deeply loved through the care and attention given to every detail of an Inventure; not only cared for by us, but to create the conditions in which each person could rediscover something of beauty and magic within themselves.
This has always been my unspoken measure of ‘success’, if you will.
On our last Inventure in mid-September, we had been meandering through the river in the light rain. As we returned to camp, a magnificent double rainbow stretched across the sky. I stood in silence, soaked to the bone, filled with awe at this wonder-filled sight, with a deep sense of peace, as though the land and sky were bidding us the most beautiful farewell…for now.
Ideas and possibilities have already started brewing in my quiet moments and meandering conversations…
And finally, to each of our guests who trusted us and said yes to an experience in the Karoo, thank you! Thank you for your openness to the unfamiliar, your curiosity, your willingness to enter into the unknown and for all that you brought and contributed to each experience.
Without being chosen by each of you, none of this would have been possible.
‘Somewhere over the rainbow…’
