1. Where It All Started

An entry from June 2022:

After a long 8-hour drive we finally made it to northern Namibia. Greeted by the warm air, orange sand, and beautiful big trees, it definitely felt surreal to think that this is our new home.

For the first month we’re staying with friends who live nearby, just until we have something of our own set up on the land. At the moment it’s completely raw bushland, overrun with invasive thorn bush. The only form of infrastructure on the whole property are two broken down stone houses; no roofs, no doors, no windows, just four walls that see new potential.

Taking on a huge raw piece of land can feel like quite a daunting task. Although we’re eager to get our hands in the ground and start planting the seeds of the future, we know we’ve got to be patient and take it one step at a time. With no drinking water, no electricity, no buildings or working areas, there’s a lot of work in front of us right now. But we’re excited. We’re grateful. We’re motivated. (And honestly, we’re also a little scared!)

The starting point

Already since February this year, we’ve been working with the locals to already start clearing some of the overgrown fields, in order for us to start work there once the Namibia winter is over. We want to work with the land in the most natural ways possible, so creating space for new life whilst also preserving the beautiful native trees is really important to us.

Our mission is to transform the land from dry and depleted, into flourishing food forests, restoring the natural cycles that had been disrupted by human intervention. We’re doing this through Agroforestry, so planting trees is on the top of our list.

Alongside the groundwork, we figured renovating the two small houses would be a good place to start. That means rebuilding the walls, adding a roof, fitting windows and doors, and utilizing them as a living space and a work/storage space. In this area we’ll create the central working area of the farm, and gradually build things up from there.

But there’s no thing we’ll need for things to really get moving… water.

So, let’s get started!