The Spring Equinox – 20th/21st March
To my wonderful customers and supporters,
I have some big news to share! For the majority of 2026, I’ll be trading my craft studio for the wilds of North Luangwa, Zambia.
I’ve accepted a role as Camp Manager for the upcoming safari season. It’s an incredible opportunity to return to the bush after my year of foot surgeries last year. Managing a stunning remote camp on the banks of the river, and undoubtedly finding some new inspiration in one of Africa’s most beautiful locations, was something I simply could not pass up.
What this means for you:
1) I will be taking final orders at the end of this month. After this, my online shop will go on a slight pause until my return in late Autumn. That said, there will be an increased range of pendants available soon from the OBOD online store in my absence.
2) I won’t be appearing at the summer fayres I previously announced, so if you’ve been eyeing something specific, now is the time to grab it!
I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your continued support and encouragement. I plan to document some of my journey (when signal allows), so feel free to follow along on socials for some behind-the-scenes bush-life updates.
Blessings from me to you and yours this equinox.
Joanne.
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So the print run order has been placed, and we are now waiting for delivery!
I have a limited number still available for sale at this weekend’s Mystical Realms Festival at the South of England Showground near Haywards Heath – it would be great to see some of you in person.
I hate to admit it’s the war in Iran that’s currently holding my attention. It is difficult not to lose hours to the news feeds, and my heart goes out to those living through such destruction, wasted lives, and wasted resources. It is a conflict that feels both far away and incredibly close, and it’s hard not to feel the weight of it.
Change is the only constant in life; we know this, but change of this magnitude is unsettling. On a personal level, it has also brought a wave of uncertainty to my own plans. My flight to Zambia transits through Dubai, which now requires a rethink. But when? How long do I leave it? There are so many unknowns regarding insurance and travel advisories that it’s hard to know when to make the call.
In the midst of this broader uncertainty, I find myself looking toward the one “unknown” I can actually do something about: the brand-new park I’ll be working in this season. Having spent my entire safari career to date in the Kafue National Park, North Luangwa is a move into a different kind of wilderness; remote, authentic, and largely untouched. While the global logistical questions remain, the excitement for what this new ecosystem has in store for my guests and me is the one constant I am leaning into.
I am almost ready, and I cannot wait to see what the coming months hold.
For the last few weeks, my world has been one of 5 am starts and endless study. I’ve been revising my guiding knowledge and marvelling at how far scientific research has come in the eight years since I completed my training in South Africa.
To prepare, I’ve been compiling a North Luangwa reference book, a deep dive into the flora and fauna, from the cathedral forests to the smallest critters. Because this park is defined by walking safaris, I’m also dusting off my tracking skills. It’s a discipline that is notoriously hard to practice in the UK. Unless I want to spend my afternoons distinguishing one local dog print from another!
Beyond the biology, I’m tackling the Bemba and Bisa languages and catching up on the latest conservation efforts. With Cheetah reintroductions on the horizon, Black Rhino on the doorstep, and the endemic Cookson’s Wildebeest, it is a guide’s dream.
Then, of course, there are the ‘lifers’ on the park’s bird list, species I’ve waited years to check off, and which I now have a genuine chance of finding. A chance that excites me way more than it should!
(I also had fun creating illustrations to accompany the Kalulu the Hare stories from Zambian folklore!)
One business helping out another …
My soon-to-be home for half a year.
Can’t wait to check out the four newly rebuilt chalets with river-facing rooms and open-air skybeds beneath the stars!
A final word from the woodland…
Spent a bit of time up at the wood, not as much as I would have liked. But it’s been very windy of late, and so there is always the fear that trees or limbs will be down and clearance work will be needed. We got off lightly, which is lucky, as the log store is already pretty full with seasoned wood.
The primroses are starting to flower, and the bluebell leaves are emerging like a fancy green carpet, a few centimetres tall. I suspect I will already be gone before they bloom and fill the wood with their edible scent. But it’s a small sacrifice to trade the woodland for the riverine forests of the Luangwa valley.
Also took a walk last week around St Leonards forest, not far from where I live. Stunning woodland with a number of trees “melded” together. Oak and Pine, Oak and Birch, Birch and Beech, I’ve never seen so many trees supporting each other in this way before. So much so, we’ve nicknamed it the Swingers wood!
So until next time, blessings from Rais, and happy equinox.
Joanne
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