When I was a little kid of about 4 or 5 years old
I pushed a concrete pillar over and it hit me on the head.
And I think that might have affected
my outlook on life ever since.
I'm 70km from the nearest town.
They thought I was crazy, nuts, mad.
How can you live on your own out there?
I'm quite happy.
When I arrived out here, it was difficult times for me.
Things had happened in my life.
My dad died. My mom died.
My father-in-law died. I got divorced.
It was a nightmare
and it all happened in a very short period of time.
I was on a different planet
at the end of that very short period
of internal drama.
Everybody said you need to see a psychologist.
And I said no, I need to sort it out.
I needed to be alone to get my head around
what I'd gone through.
I ended up here in this wilderness environment.
You know, the Karoo is a special place.
It's got a silence that is deafening.
The stars at night are just unsurpassable
because of the clarity of the air.
This kind of environment, it works.
It gives back something.
I didn't realise I was going to fix myself out here
and it's taken me a long time to get through it
and nature has been the one that pulled me through it.
At least that's the way I see it.
Having had that dramatic part in my life
and having come out of it
I think with a smile on my face
I can't help but say maybe this is the answer.
This is why we need wilderness.
I can be in a bad mood
because I got out of the wrong side of the bed
and walk outside and a bird flies past.
Within 5 minutes I'm in another world.
I've calmed down.
You're moving out of your bad mood.
That's the kind of thing that happens out here.
You can't believe what it does to you.
People come out here with their cellphones and things
and then you watch this change take place.
Give them three days
the cellphone is forgotten about
they're looking at each other
they're walking all over the place
and they go back better people.
Nature does that for you.
Man is crazy.
We try and make the world fit what we think it should be
instead of trying to fit into the world.
You've got to start looking at the plants
you look at the succulents
you look at the insects.
Every single thing is interrelated.
We need those things in order to stay human.
Man is not a special creature.
He is part of nature.
We are here. We are part of the universe.
The wilderness means a lot to me.
I want to see it remain like it is.
I want to see my grandchildren
being able to appreciate it.
I don't want it to be destroyed.
If I had it by choice
I'd say to everybody in their lives
must spend 20 days in the Karoo on their own.
They'd go back different people.
I don't think there is any doubt about it
it's changed me, yes.
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