Manie WOLVAARDT
(MA, DLitt, UED)

Discover ... observe ... interpret

Yes, I think to myself ... what a wonderful world!

I think that the final conclusion at the end of the song made famous by Louis Armstrong in 1967, had always been imbedded in me. As a boy, growing up on a farm in the southern Free State of South Africa, I soon became interested in the natural world around us – keeping a pet owl in the barn, spending days in the surrounding hills and mountains, tracing the sketches of the rock art of the Bushman, following ants on their winding paths while carrying gras cuttings to their nests, gazing up at the stars and re-creating the imaginary constellations ... always wanting to know what lies beyond.

Throughout my career as educator and academic I felt this irresistable urge to travel, this Fernweh, this Wanderlust, like an Odysseus setting out his sails, or the pioneers longing for the “Far Away Mountains” as the great storyteller of the American West, Louis L’Amour describes it. But gradually I also became interested in the different ways Man not only creates a living out of this intriguing environment, but sometimes even re-creates it to satisfy his needs; also how he endeavours to reach beyond the stars, with a deep-felt yearning of finding salvation in the Divine.

Perhaps this was the reason why I switched courses at university from a BSc in Physical Sciences to the Humanities, with subjects like literature (in which I later obtained a doctorate), geography, anthropology, geology and philosophy, through which I came into contact with the writings and ideas of the great masters, as well as the wonders of the world in which they lived. Other interests like history, paleontology, astronomy, as well as the creative and performing arts served me well in my quest of discovering as much as possible of this entrancing world of ours.

Therefore, when I retired as the Director of an Office for International Affairs at a university some years ago, it came as an immense privilege when I was asked to become involved in the activities of the travel agency, Etnique Travel, which has in an entrepreneurial way evolved into the unique company it is now.

This created the opportunity to hone my skills as a writer in a new direction, namely by writing informational and travel articles based on my knowledge and experience of the countries and places that I’ve visited. I take pleasure in advising clients and compiling self-drive itineraries for them based on personal experience. But since I was during my career also responsible for Offices for Staff Development and Quality Assurance, I take responsibilities for these aspects regarding our staff and our activities. What furthermore gives me great pleasure, is the reponsibility of organising our unique and large library of travel books and maps.

However, I am not only an armchair traveller through the pages of these books; my involvement here creates the opportunity to regularly stretch my wings away from home, out over the man-made borders of our colourful country, to see and experience the world anew.

Therefore, you will still find me gazing out over the Alps from the top of a peak in Switzerland, marvelling about their creation, spending an hour or two before Rembrandt’s masterpiece, the Prodigal Son, in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, trying to unravel the misterious interaction between light and shadow creating such an aura of sanctitude, or immersed in the plot and music of an opera at the Semper Opera in Dresden.

Perhaps you will see me paddling a canoe on a lake in Tennessee in the USA, walking with reverence up the steps of a religious sanctuary like Bom Jesus du Monte near Braga in Portugal, contemplating the silent flow of an underground spring in the Karst-region of Baden-Würtenberg in Germany, or charging down a dune with a quad-bike in Namibia.

We might even meet at a restaurant somewhere in the Rhone Valley in France, sipping a cool, aromatic Voignier, or sniffing the exotic scents of a powerful sherry in Andalusia in Spain; perhaps even passing a test bottle of a fragrant perfume to one another in Grass in Provence. And should it not be possible for you to view the colourful fish of the Red Sea on the coast of Egypt, to walk the cobble-stone streets of the Old Town in Stockholm, Sweden, or to sit silently in prayer in the underground church in Helsinki, I will try to faithfully evoke the experience for you.

Let us together, through TravelWithUs, discover and observe the myriad of alluring places, phenomena and occurrences in this wonderful world of ours, endeavouring to interpret their deeper meaning and impact on those who have seen or created them.

Affiliated with:

Manie WOLVAARDT (MA, DLitt, UED)

Discover ... observe ... interpret

Yes, I think to myself ... what a wonderful world!

Manie WOLVAARDT
(MA, DLitt, UED)