December of 2013 my partner and I arrived in South Africa the same day as the home going services for Nelson Mandela. We spent 27 days exploring the landscape of his beautiful country.
While there, we went on safari hunts, toured shanti towns, visited The Hector Pieterson Memorial, took long road trips, sat on breathtaking, white-sand beaches on the Indian Ocean, climbed Table Mountain, and sailed out to Robbens Island to see where the late President Mandela was held prisoner for 27 years.
Most memorable of our experiences was the food. You see, the continent of Africa is rich in natural resources and soil, which is essential for agriculture and makes the land most desirable.
Each morning, we would wake up to a melody of fresh fruit, vegetables and
natural juices that provided the necessary vitality for the new adventure that we’d set out on for that day. We also tried new foods such as quail and ostrich exquisitely prepared by renowned chefs, drank wine and ate rich cheesecake from the world famous Stellenbosch vineyards while on a wine tour. The culinary experience brought about new realization. In our natural habitat, ‘farm to table’ was the standard and most essential for living a strong and healthy life.
Upon arrival back into the states, we slowly slipped back into the norms we were accustomed to; pancakes, bagels, and cereals, for breakfast. Lunch, if at all, consisted of processed meats or canned tuna in between slices of bread. Or frozen chickens thawed and cooked and placed atop scoops of rice with few veggies for the conscience. It was then that we determined that in order to mimic the
exuberance that we felt while on our voyage, we would need to make some drastic changes.
The first idea was to fast for 35 days leading up to my partner’s 35th birthday. We would completely eliminate food from our diet and drink water, fresh vegetable & fruit juices, smoothies and protein shakes. After his birthday, we indulged in a celebratory dinner consisting of fried chicken and some other greasy options and found that living to eat no longer served us. We now desired more life and decided to eat to live.
Shortly after, I started a 30 day raw cleanse and to my complete surprise, we learned that we were pregnant. And to add to that, the fibroids that I had been dealing with for years, had degenerated. And that began the journey of abundant health, which for us, translates into More Lyfe!