Welcome to the Journal
Placeholder post: a first entry to show how stories on this site will look.
Frontispiece ◆ A flash into history
Cara Maré
Welkom, welcome
Stories, ventures and ideas, painted across South Africa’s landscapes and the eras that shaped them.
Turn the pages Ask me anything
Plate I Homestead at DuskDigital oil painting · original artwork for CaraMare.org
About me Draft bio
Soft heart,
bold boots.
I’m Cara, a 24-year-old from Stellenbosch and Somerset West, working in accounting by day and dreaming up ventures, stories and conversations the rest of the time.
I’m proudly bilingual (English & Afrikaans), endlessly curious, and happiest somewhere between a forest trail and a winelands sunset. This site is my illustrated folio: a flip through the places and chapters of South African history I love, and a home for everything I create. Read along, ask me a question, join a debate, or settle into the ThinkTank for a long conversation.
The folio
Flip through
the chapters
Nine landscapes, nine eras, one journey. Swipe, scroll or use the arrows.
I / IX
Plate I · Chapter IKnysna ForestThe JournalThe Millwood gold rush · 1880s
Plate II · Chapter IIThe Great KarooPonderings from the StoepWild horses on the russet hills
Plate III · Chapter IIIThe Fynbos PathThe Field GuidePink ericas below Table Mountain
Plate IV · Chapter IVCape WinelandsVenturesThe Huguenot era · 1688
Plate V · Chapter VThe DrakensbergThe Expedition SchoolAn ox-wagon expedition · 1850s
Plate VI · Chapter VIThe LowveldThe Safari GramophoneA game drive at sundown
Plate VII · Chapter VIIUnder the AcaciaAsk CaraLetters over a bush dinner
Plate VIII · Chapter VIIIThe Atlantic SeaboardThe Live DebateWhere the tides argue with the cliffs
Plate IX · Chapter IXThe Safari TerraceThe ThinkTankTea under the arches · 1920s
Lessons from the Millwood Gold Fields
Placeholder post: what an 1880s gold rush in the Knysna forest can teach us about ambition.
This week’s ponder · Chapter II
Week 1 · On taking the long road
PlaceholderPlaceholder column: a weekly thought to ponder, written from the stoep.
Read the column
Basis Nutrition
Health. At its basis. Pure creatine and unflavoured daily electrolytes, shipped anywhere in South Africa.
Placeholder Venture Two
A second idea, project or side business.
