FINELY CHOREOGRAPHED WITH PLENTY OF FREEDOM TO FREESTYLE
An unforgettable evening as dinner guests with indigenous village children and community leaders.
A wet-plate photography self-portrait session.
Guided real-time journaling and creative exercises.
Back of the van chatter and heartfelt conversations under the stars.
Luxury accommodations surrounded by the art of everything.
Daybreak plunges into hidden rock pools. Sunset over a lavender field.
Ancient folklore. Local folks. Mythologies. Memories. Moments.
INTO THE KAROO VIA ROUTE 62
While well-known to South Africans as a magnet for visionary pioneers, the LITTLE KAROO is an off-the-beaten-track destination where art, creativity and culture come together in “a kind of rough jazz”.
This is THE PLACE for nothing more, and nothing less, than authentic, hyper-local adventure. And we are here for it.
You'll immerse yourself in the diverse, wildly creative - and compassionate - town of BARRYDALE.
Guided by doers, dreamers, enthusiasts, and leaders, your stay will be a complete, multicultural and multi-dimensional getaway
BARRYDALE. "A community of effortless style and soul-powering substance in the absolute middle of nowhere."
TAKE IN AFRICA.
LOSE YOURSELF.
FIND YOURSELF.
TAKE IN AFRICA. LOSE YOURSELF. FIND YOURSELF.
GRAHAM SEES LIFE THROUGH A DIFFERENT LENS…
and that perspective has drawn him to settle in Barrydale. Over the years, he has become a pivot point of the community, connected to everyone, and his Studio Barn is one of the town’s creative wellsprings.
Graham’s greatest artistic passion is for portrait and documentary shoots. He uses old school techniques of black & white photography and printing, especially the alchemy of metal, light, salts, silver and magic known as the wet plate process.
You’ll have the opportunity to direct, style and sit for your own WET PLATE PORTRAIT by Graham.
This photography session is your turn to tell your story. To express yourself. Define yourself. Reveal yourself.
What moves you? Where is your light? What’s in your shadow? Who are you in the world? How do you want to be seen?
Graham’s goal is to fill the frame with your LIKENESS, be that your enduring core essence or an all new view you want to share.
LOOK INWARD, EXPAND OUTWARD.
Alicia’s gift is the ability to help others look inward, expand outward and find where they belong. She has studied with business leaders and indigenous shamans and has spent her time coaching in corporate halls and walking in Ecuadorian rainforests.
At the end of each day, guided by Alicia, you’ll pause to process your experiences and document your personal journey into short dispatches. Those, along with your wet plate portrait, will be gathered together as a keepsake dossier of your fieldtrip to the faraway.
Together we will,
Write, draw, imagine, collaborate, remember, have fun together.
Touch, listen, watch, grasp, disassemble, reassemble.
Unpack epiphanies, share unique viewpoints, find what binds us.
Look for patterns and spontaneous configurations.
Connect what we’re learning with what we already know.
Peter’s non-profit organization, Net Vir Pret, works with community youth to develop self-esteem and confidence through artistic after-school activities.
Peter and the children of a nearby indigenous Khoisan community will join our group for a special Seed 2 Fire evening of cooking, dining and celebrating around the campfire. Scheduled for your final night in town, it’s sure to be the emotional high point of your time in Barrydale.
You’ll tour the community center, help with planting in the food gardens, cook a meal in a traditional Potje Pot and then, as the sun sets, you’ll become part of an unforgettable night of dance, song and storytelling.
Many Khoisan are direct descendants of the very earliest humans on Earth, with an ancestry that goes back over 150,ooo years. This invitation is an offer from them to share with us their resilience, their heritage and their deeply spiritual culture .
DUST, FLAMES, MUSIC AT SUNSET.
Your Barrydale accommodations will be the town’s 4-star wonder – the vividly re-imagined and luxuriously appointed colonial-era KAROO ART HOTEL.
A celebration of The Art of Everything
From fine art to the art of coffee, the art of cinema, the art of the wood-fired oven, and so much more -- the Karoo Art Hotel is truly the ultimate in hospitality and welcome.
The hotel’s front porch is Barrydale’s cultural watering hole and the perfect vantage point to enjoy the town’s unconventional character. Sit for a while and witness the captivating parade of all things local.
YOUR DAY IN FRANSCHHOEK
You’ll spend day four wandering down Main Street exploring the town’s charming cafes, galleries, shops and open-air craft markets.
Or choose to sample wine flights and modern art at one of South Africa’s most exquisite properties, the Grande Provence Wine Estate.
That evening, you’ll join the entire group for a gourmet four-course meal en plein air at the renowned Chefs Warehouse Maison.
Your luxe overnight accommodations will be nestled amid the aromatic fields of the exclusive Lavender Farm Guest House.
And on your final morning, you’ll meet for breakfast in the Lavender Farm garden before departing for the short return drive to Kalk Bay, Cape Town.
Exactly when you arrive back to reality is completely up to you.
NEW VISTAS/NEW VISIONS
Join a curated group of up to eight like-minded travelers on an unforgettable, masterfully guided Fieldtrip, into the Karoo via Route 62.
Be welcomed into a completely fresh, undiscovered South African community far from the world of urgency.
Define who you are in the world and what you want to leave behind
Gain new perspectives on community from a collective of unconventional creative souls.
Dive deep into your own reservoirs of abundance, compassion and intention.
Return home recharged and ready to take on your next creative challenge.
