When you’re at the bottom of your reserve tank and traffic, obligations, deadlines, news, social media and the demands of living in the busyness of the 21st century get too much, it’s simply time to push PAUSE, stop what you’re doing and ensure that you reconnect with the natural world ASAP. Your life depends on it.

There’s that saying attributed to Oom Einstein, that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome. Perhaps it’s time for a change?

Arriving at Okapuka was equivalent to hitting the restart button on my computer, resetting the rhythm of my life.

Veering off from the main drag to the Otjihavera Mountains, I left the buzz of cars behind and was ushered into the quiet, calm, thatch interior of the lodge, in which touches of Safari chic merge with fresh air and wholesomeness. I had the feeling that if Karen Blixen of ‘Out of Africa’ fame could walk through the airy interior, she too would be as charmed as I was.

The lush lawn extends into long bleached grass dotted with trees and to the nourishing embrace of the mountains. Two ostriches foraged outside my room, a pearl-spotted owl practised its bush scales, a woodpecker pecked out a tune on a nearby tree. And I could immediately feel the city angst flowing away, replaced by sublime calm. When the moon woke me in the middle of the night, I peeped out my window onto the lodge grounds to see that it had been taken over by springbok and wildebeest anointed with silvery moonlight.

And then there was the excitement of meeting our magnificent animal siblings the next day when I hopped aboard the game-drive vehicle with the other guests, some who were on their first African journey. I breathed in all the joy with the wind and the life-affirming afternoon sunshine that transformed everything into gold.

What a good start to a Namibian journey! Join me next week as I head into the heart of the country, Etosha National Park.