Where You Hear The Earth's Heartbeat

In the folds of the Nuweveld Mountains, about 70km southwest of Beaufort West, Douwe and Liezl Vlok have realised their dream: to live simply and to tread the earth as lightly as they can. Let’s go for a walk in their footsteps.

- Peter Van Noord

Imagine living in a place where jackals howl in the kloofs behind your house. In front of it, a plain strewn with ancient stones extends to the horizon, and in the heavens above it you can see the skyglow at night where Beaufort West lies to the northeast. And through binoculars you may see a black rhino against a koppie in the distance.

You built this house with your own hands, your water comes out of the cool belly of the mountain, and your vegetables come from the patch of earth you faithfully tend and water and protect against the elements. On hot nights you take your bedding outdoors and sleep under the arc of the Milky Way, far brighter here than in most other places.

This is the life of Douwe and Liezl Vlok, two colourful characters who’ve each travelled long, winding roads to get to where they are now – some of them gravel roads, Liezl says, laughing. “Where do you think these wrinkles come from?”

HERE, ON THE FARM HEUNINGLAND, the Vloks live with their youngest child, 11-year-old Douwe-Tempel, two dogs, four cats, four horses and a clutch of chickens. The nearest sign of “civilisation” to be seen is the occasional dust cloud rising above the Oukloof road between Beaufort West and Fraserburg. Beyond this road lies the Karoo National Park, former home of Sylvester the lion, the Houdini that rose to fame when he escaped the park twice, first in 2015 and then in 2016, and had the whole of South Africa following his adventures as he evaded trackers. He now lives in Addo Elephant National Park. They’re on the fringes of cellphone coverage, and Eskom lines and municipal services haven’t reached them.