Warm-hearted and deeply connected to the plant kingdoms, Camilla Colley is a niche fynbos essential oil distiller. She is a co-founder and key partner of Cape Fynbos Oils (CFO), a unique regenerative farming cooperative with an emphasis on the indigenous aromatic botanicals found in the Western Cape fynbos and karoo biomes. Her great passion and appreciation for the natural environment, particularly that of the mountains in the Western Cape, guides the way for her work and personal journey.
Camilla’s first conscious discovery of the magic of fynbos was over two decades ago after walking through the mountains. When she came home, she noticed a lingering scent on her clothes and it captivated her: “I felt elated. I felt transformed by that first walk in the mountain.” This moment was a turning point in her relationship with the surrounding environment, and upon revisiting the mountains to trace the scent, she realised that it was the smell of the habitat itself. “That for me was very mind expanding,” she says, “I feel like I had woken up in some way to a new sense, although it had always been with me.”
When Camilla connected to the aromatic properties and medicinal uses of fynbos, it catalysed a feeling of remembrance and deep fascination for this unique botanical kingdom. Her strong personal connection, respect and intrigue for the cultural and traditional roots of fynbos has had a big influence on her journey: “When I first moved here I would walk the mountains on my own, and I’d be meeting Bush Doctors. I learned a lot from them.” Moving with honour and reverence for the wealth of history and medicine that fynbos carries, her core values working with this biome as a conduit for its teachings are integrity, education and restoration, acknowledging and holding awareness for the sensitivities of this field.
“That’s the heart of it: that’s really what I’m trying to embody, and trying to be an ambassador for. I don’t know what the path is but I recognise and acknowledge its sacredness. And the need for it to be worked with and formulated with integrity.”
Camilla initially distilled imphepho which set her intrigue about essential oils into motion. Alongside Andrew Brown, Dirk Versfeld, and Werner Bester, Cape Fynbos Oils was established in 2018 through shared connection and integrity in the distillation of fynbos oils. “We became a community by default,” shares Camilla. CFO is an open-source farming cooperative committed to sustainability, ethics, conservation and regenerative farming practices. All of the plants grown on their farms are hand-harvested and nurtured in a way that intends to mimic the natural environment. CFO’s essential oils are steam distilled and the practices behind the processes - from propagating, harvesting, extracting - seek to collaborate with the natural environment and its cycles. The cooperative creates an expansive “learning laboratory” for all involved. Educational integrity and “creating the opportunity for people with the lineage to develop autonomy and be educated around the usage of plants that they were born into” is an aspect of CFO that Camilla is particularly connected to.
Her passion for her work is ignited through the restoration and understanding of plants that evokes healing of sorts. It restores both the inner and outer landscapes. “It’s an alchemical process; it is alchemy and that’s what we’re all doing in our lifetime.” She views our relationship with plants as a reflection of this process; “the cycle of plants and nature is reflecting what is happening in our lifetime.” Through this lens, fynbos and African herbal medicine holds a plethora of knowledge as many of the plants used ceremonially or ritualistically are to invoke ancestral connection and to heal lineage. “Traditional African herbalism is at the core of that healing - we have to heal in community.”
Marrying her knowledge of herbalism and her acute attunement to the power of scent is something that Camilla is most passionate about. To her, distillation is a sacred alchemical and personal process that reflects the health of the ecosystem. “I’m extracting the soul, or essence of the plant through the distillation process. I try to bring that into every aspect of my being and relationship with nature.” Beyond extraction, learning about a plant’s health, environment and wellbeing so that it can be restored is an important part of her process, especially living so close to fynbos in the Deep South. Here, indigenous biomes particularly thrive - inspiration and connection to the botanical world is all around.
The way in which CFO emerged and runs inspires Camilla’s vision for a future world. She sees an example of future farming in CFO, and values the trust, honesty and open communication that drives it all. “We honour the processes. That I think is what the future is going to be like. We’re creating a standard that we are living by and that we hope others can draw inspiration from. It’s collaboration, not competition.”
Visit our Gardens concept store to explore a collection of Cape Fynbos essential oils on showcase now. We're open Monday - Saturday from 10AM - 5PM.
Words by Boudica Collins
Images by Nicola Katie
Images by Nicola Katie
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