Like a nymph, Carina Stander appears from among the trees in the Tsitsikamma, where she and her family live. Barefoot, wearing a plain white dress… her hair long and dark brown with splashes of colour. She glides down the garden path, which she, her husband and two sons laid themselves, to the gate in the white picket fence. Smiling broadly, she throws her arms wide open, tilts her head and warmly exclaims: “Welcome to our world!”
It’s a land of magic, of fables and fantasy, that she’s created with her husband, Gerrit van Niekerk, and their two sons, 14-year-old Aden and 10-year-old Ilan. In the garden, monkeys cavort and turacos call to each other in the trees, and every now and then one of their two cats, Mooiloop and Avontier (meaning “night tiger”, according to Aden) make an appearance. The garden is a profusion of flowers and foliage, with paths, sculptures, cosy nooks, treehouses, hammocks and a “foefie slide”.
The interior of the double-storey log home is equally fantastical: bright colours, art everywhere, arum lilies and other flowers popping out of pots and vases on the
