The Kouga Municipality and the ‘Dorp van Drome’ (town of dreams) have built a spekboom labyrinth on the corner of Noorsekloof Road and Dogwood Road in Jeffreys Bay for residents and visitors to enjoy. At the entrance of the labyrinth, there are four columns representing the four natural elements: earth (green), water (blue), air (white), and fire (red).
A decade-long dream came true.
It has been a dream of ‘Dorp van Drome’ to construct a labyrinth in Kouga and, in doing so, put Jeffreys Bay firmly on the international labyrinth map - adding one more labyrinth to the existing 124 labyrinths across South Africa in municipal areas, while addressing climate change – thus the reason for using over 1 000 spekbome.
‘Dorp van drome’ is a residential movement where everyone has the same goal – to keep Jeffreys Bay clean and beautiful. A well-known landscape architect and member of ‘Dorp van Drome’, Pieter Kok designed and planned the labyrinth, while artist Zuanda Badenhorst designed the four columns and builder Hannes Bekker oversaw the construction of the project.
Spekboom is an indigenous South African succulent, and was chosen because it is easily propagated, is water efficient and is very good at capturing carbon. This plant has the ability to fix pollution. It is known to have the capacity of taking in about 4 to 10 tonnes of carbon from a hectare's environment. This it does by acting like a carbon sponge that sucks in all the unwanted carbon.
Labyrinths have been proven to have the ability to quiet the mind. In good practice, they help connect the body with the mind and the mind with an inner spirit. Finding that inner spirit helps to boost a healthy life in recovery.
Labyrinth walking is an ancient practice used by many different faiths for spiritual centering, contemplation, and prayer. Entering the serpentine path of a labyrinth, you walk slowly while quieting your mind and focusing on a spiritual question or prayer.
For a video about the labyrinth, visit https://youtu.be/-NvMfKJtsfI.
https://youtu.be/-NvMfKJtsfI