South African native Elsa Dixon finds 'peace in my soul' on Daniel Island

Nearly a quarter century ago, Elsa Dixon left her South African homeland and arrived on Daniel Island with only two suitcases and $1,000.  

Looking for a new life as crime and political unrest escalated in South Africa following the end of apartheid, Dixon came to America as part of an international educator program in 2002. She was one of 40 international teachers in Charleston that year and landed on Daniel Island by chance during a rainstorm. 

“I was driving over the bridge and saw a sign that said Daniel Island, so I turned off the exit and my car took the road straight to River Landing Drive,” said Dixon, who parked at Daniel's Landing condominiums. “The sign said, ‘Future resident, we’ve been expecting you,’ and that is where I stayed.” 

Dixon immersed herself in Lowcountry life and focused on socializing and learning about American culture: “I just dove into it completely and did all I could.”  

Dixon joined Daniel Island’s first book club, enjoyed ballroom dancing, playing Scrabble, attending oyster roasts, celebrating American holidays, and visiting other states.   

“I made quite a lot of friends here,” she said. “The (Daniel's Landing) clubhouse was where everybody gathered, and I had a lot of parties where I would cook my South African curry dishes. I was a great one for organizing a party.” 

A music lover and author of three instructional music books, Dixon offered piano lessons in her home while working as a music teacher in the public schools of McClellanville, South Carolina. In 2005 she was hired by Ashley Hall in Charleston to develop the private school’s preprimary music program.  

In 2006, she began a travel company called Travels with Elsa, taking families on tour to South Africa and other countries during school holidays. She became a travel writer and published two books under her maiden name, Elsa van der Byl. 

“Hippos, Hotspots, and Homelands” chronicles her life in South Africa, and “Immigration: From Lowveld to Lowcountry” tells the tale of her adventures in Charleston. Both books are available on her website, travelswithelsa.com, and Amazon.com. 

Dixon said she has travel and entertainment in her genes. Her father, Piet Pompies, who she wrote a book about in 2018, was a famous South African comedian and songwriter who traveled the country with his family in tow. 

Born in 1946, Dixon grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, during apartheid, a system of institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination. “We had a very protected life as white South Africans, and I did not really understand how apartheid worked when I lived in Cape Town,” she said. 

It was only after she and her husband moved into the countryside as part of a government-sponsored rural education initiative that Dixon immersed into Black culture. She was appointed lecturer in music and preprimary education and ran a student choir that promoted Black music and arts. 

But the job she loved did not come without risks. 

“I was held hostage by students on more than one occasion when they wanted to protest,” said Dixon, who explained that she had a relationship of mutual respect with her pupils.  

For nearly 10 years, Dixon lived and taught school in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve, where she said it was an ordinary day to be greeted by an elephant walking past the kitchen window or hear the rumble of leopards on the roof.  

“One time the lions started climbing on my car, and I remembered I spilled milk in my trunk, so I made a quick getaway,” she said with a chuckle. 

After her husband died in 2001, Dixon’s four daughters, who now live abroad in England, Switzerland, and Canada, began worrying about her safety. Dixon was living alone in the countryside and remembers sleeping with a gun under her pillow after being burglarized three times. Although she loved her country, she couldn’t resist the opportunity to reinvent herself in America. 

Dixon became a dual citizen of the United States and South Africa in 2014 and led travel tours to her homeland until 2024. She lived in Daniel’s Landing for 23 years before moving last February to Daniel Pointe Retirement Community, where she still teaches piano lessons. 

“I love Daniel Island; it’s been wonderful,” said Dixon, who appreciates the natural setting, family environment, and proximity to the ocean. 

“It’s just beautiful, and it’s so nice to see all the trees and the moss out my window. That gives me peace in my soul.”