A BREATH OF FRESH AIR

The Covid-19 lockdown that was implemented in South Africa for a large portion of this year had an adverse effect on outdoor pastimes. South Africans are by nature an outdoor people, the idea of being confined to the perimeter of one’s home was rather daunting. Slowly, as the Coronavirus has abated somewhat, we have been allowed a bit of a free rein regarding to spending time outdoors.

Travelling home in the evening my journey takes me past one of Johannesburg’s municipal dam’s. It is really uplifting to see that the dam and the surrounding park are being used extensively. On most evenings you will see the water hosting anglers, canoeists and wannabe sailors. Around the fringes of the lake joggers, photographers and dog-walkers share space with people having a picnic, or just simply enjoying the sunny conditions.

Even in South Africa’s densely populated cities one is never too far from  some “green belt”, most entailing at the most, a very short road trip. Parklands are wonderful places to germinate an interest about the outdoors with children. Whether you spend time collecting tadpoles from the shallows of a pond, watching birds feeding their young, or explaining as why we have pine cones  makes the youngsters appreciate the immense wealth that the open spaces offer.

A positive by-product of the lockdown has been to appreciate not only the tapestry of the outdoors and as to what they offer, but to also realise one can find this really close to home.

Summer in now officially here, no better time to be outdoors.

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