Fleur Huijskens & Nicole Boekhoorn

The cofounders of Sterrekopje, a restored 17th century “healing farm” in Franschhoek, an hour from Cape Town, are experts in the art of regenerative living, with an approach to well-being that is intuitive and soulful rather than prescriptive. They share their must-haves for staying balanced on the road, from essential oils and natural creams to pure cacao for a daily morning ritual and a tarot deck they never leave home without.

Tell us about Sterrekopje and how you got started down this path.

We both love to travel and explore the world as well as exploring the magic of our inner worlds. What is out there and in here? In discovering the world and her inner world, Nicole stayed at many wellness hotels as well as going on retreats. These hotels were beautiful, but often quite clinical and impersonal. The retreats she went on offered a deeply transformative experience but often in quite a spartan setting. What she missed was love, and what she noticed was that we all are looking for a bit more love. Not being able to find the place she longed for, she decided she had to create it herself. A house of love, where one could heal and regenerate in a gentle, playful and above all warm, loving, home-y setting. A place you can drop in immediately, because you feel you are cared for at all levels of your being. The day after Nicole found the farm, we met and together brought Nicole’s vision to life at the farm during Covid. What we share with guests at Sterrekopje is a way of life. One that is simple yet abundant, rooted in nature and above all joyful and celebratory. They call it the art of regenerative living.

How would you describe your wellness philosophy and practice there?

We prefer the word well-being at our “healing farm.” Healing coming from the old English world ‘hale,’ which means ‘whole’. To us, healing means returning to or remembering our wholeness, coming back into the fullness of our complete body. We create journeys for our guests that guide them out of their head back into their bodies in gentle and playful ways, returning or reconnecting to their wholeness. In essence, we take our guests on a journey of being, of being you, fully, rested, regenerated. We do not have a spa or spa menu. We have turned the original manor house of the farm from 1694 into a bath house with a hammam, two magical massage rooms and a herbal apothecary. We work with an incredible team of holistic therapists who connect with your body intuitively.

How do you approach staying healthy and relaxed when you travel by plane?

We take our own water on the plane as well as home-made snacks. We never drink boiled water from the plane tanks as they are full of germs, and we don’t consume plane food. We either prepare a meal ourselves or get take-out from a lovely traiteur in the area, some fresh fruit and fresh herbs to infuse our water. We mostly take long flights, so we try to get some sleep and read a good book or listen to a podcast instead of watching movies. With our newborn son travel has changed a bit, but most importantly we stick to bringing our own food and drinks. 

Do you do anything special for your skincare on a plane?

We always have our bags filled with some natural oils and creams to keep our face and hands hydrated. We often have a flacon with almond oil with us, some testers from Biologique Recherche or a hydrating face mask—we change up brands. We love Tata Harper and we just discovered skin food from Weleda and an amazing (not natural though) skin brand from South Africa called Environ.   

Any strategies for dealing with jet lag?

Since Covid we have not traveled much to extremely different time zones. However, we recently came back to the farm from a trip across Mexico, via New York, and what helped a lot was walks in nature and a good massage to help us ground back into our bodies, being mindful of sleep time, not too much but where we can we love to take a little nap… regardless of jet lag.

What are a few things you always pack for your beauty/wellness routine?

Natural oils and essential oils to hydrate our face and body and for loving massages. We love almond oil mixed with neroli or pure rose oil essence. We always get our oils, like almond, grapeseed and castor oil, from an eco-shop, while we get our essential oils from a practitioner we work with, as they are pure. A great shampoo, we just never like hotel shampoos. A water bottle/thermos flask, herbs from our garden for herbal teas. Pure cacao for our morning ritual, as well as our journals, a good book and a tarot deck—we love the Wild Unknown Animal deck.

Do you have any rituals you use to reset or ground yourself in a new place?

We love walking and hiking as a grounding practice. Immersing ourselves in a place, connecting to the land and local environment and culture. Nicole loves yoga as a grounding practice, Fleur loves to roam around and explore.

What are a few of your favorite wellness destinations and why?

Nicole loves Como Shambala estate, rooted in Ubud surrounded by the beautiful river. She first visited this place 20 years ago. She liked the warmth of it, and although you could follow a program, it did not feel rigid. Another favorite place is Ananda in the Himalayas. Here you feel closer to spirit as well as the Six Senses in Bhutan. All beautiful places with a spiritual feel, where you feel loved and cared for.

Have you learned any good wellness therapies or techniques through your travels?

Any therapy or technique that a practitioner offers coming from the heart, being deeply intrinsic, will always be transformative. We love to explore the signature offering in a place as opposed to therapies or techniques that are common or that we are familiar with. We recently had the most incredible hammam experience at Dar Ahlam in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco—it was so elaborate, loving, and just a full experience from the moment we arrived to their spa (which was just the most magical traditional Moroccan space, not spa-like at all) to the tea that was served afterward. Upon our return to the farm from our travels, we always have an intuitive massage from one of our therapists. These women know the body and deeply connect with it intuitively, always giving your body exactly what he/she needs in the moment.

Where are you dreaming of going next and why?

Sterrekopje Farm has been open now for 3.5 years. She is a human playground on which we have just started to play. There are so many projects yet to be birthed here. We like to move at a slow pace, really taking our time, connecting and listening to the land and the people visiting and to gently and playfully move from there. Each season at Sterrekopje brings new and unique experiences and offerings that are deeply nourishing from soil to soul.