in isolation…

We’re all isolating to some extent at the moment… we are challenged to 1) keep busy, 2) to stay connected with friends and family in different ways and – not least of all – 3) to stay sane.

I imagine that my isolation is very different to most people’s, however. And at times I feel rather guilty that my life has not actually changed dramatically – in fact, if I was to isolate anywhere, I could not think of a better place than here in the African bush.

The company, Singita, have been so incredibly kind to let me isolate here. All other consultants and non-employees, except one BBC camera man, have left the property and most staff are also sent home, so there are approx 300 people left in the game reserve.

Keeping busy

Having a day to day purpose is very important to me. So have been setting out my goals for this time in isolation – and I can highly recommend it – it helps me stay motivated…

I am for example learning something new – focusing on advanced consulting skills, designing engaging online training and Emotional Intelligence – am actually planning to design my own EQ module / programme which is suitable for the East African market – exciting for me to have the time for this!

I also keep busy with lots of ‘normal’ work including admin and report writing which always comes after my contracts, am also doing some volunteer training for different departments and have my own personal stuff to sort as well of course – expect that I will actually finally be able to finalise my website – has taken forever!

But my isolation also includes game drives around the 350,000 acre game reserve, sundowner drinks event, swimming and tennis at the main lodge, excellent food at the staff restaurant and lots of social activities such as BBQ every Friday! I am so, so lucky!

Connecting with friends and family

Easter was supposed to have been spent in Denmark – and even though I am not really a ‘celebrating Easter’ kind of person, I am sad that I was not able to make it home for that. Hardest is however to see how disappointed my parents were and how they sometimes find the isolation a bit of a struggle. The struggles of our loved ones are so often much harder to deal with than our own.

I am sort of used to connecting with friends and family from afar, but have definitely been connecting more than usual… think we just all have more time to stay in touch and of course there’s a real need for people to feel connected as well… Have been doing FaceTime exercise with my mum, English lessons with my nephew and generally just lots of video calls. I love hearing from everyone, so keep it up! 

Staying sane

As most of you will know, I can struggle in social settings – I am quite an introvert after all – so the feeling of living in a small commune of sorts is a challenge for me sometimes. there are around 50 people in the area where I live, so it’s the same people day in and day out…

I especially get quite frustrated when people here complain about the situation and the constant talk about Corona. The negativity can really drain me… I am not naturally a positive person, but I have really worked on that for the past five years or so, so I do have to get away from people once in a while – but luckily that is also possible! I can hide in my room, put my headphones in or just go for a walk or a swim on my own.

And of course, there are things that I miss – such as hugging, crisps, sport, connecting with my students’ and licorice – but most of all hugging… I have always enjoyed a hug, it is such a good feeling, but don’t think I realised how much… I guess, sometimes we don’t know how much something means to us until it is gone!

What’s next?

Short term plans are as follows: Extended visa – one month extra granted by immigration here. Will stay here until mid/end May and then travel to Denmark – if there are flights of course – at the moment Tanzanian airports are closed until 11th May. Probably won’t make it to London for quite a while, but that’s just the way things are right now.

Sending love to everyone. Be positive, be kind and take care of each other!