Category: Africa 2012
Maputo Street Sweepers
Open Happiness
Euphoria on Video
Here are some videos I took with my little Canon IXUS at the Bushfire festival in Swaziland last weekend. The quality isn’t the best, but the happiness is as real as happiness gets.
One of the first concerts we saw was this Napalma concert in House on Fire, we had seen Napalma at Azgo the weekend before and were very happy to jump to their drums again.
The Jeremy Loops concert was one of the greatest events at the festival. The South African genius samples himself and different instruments into an overwhelming mix of sounds and happiness. Do notice the mix of people and ages – this is Bushfire!
The second greatest concert at Bushfire was the Ayo concert, this wonderful woman with her mesmerizing voice and humble smile exclaimed: “You’re too far away – I have to come closer!” – and hopped down into the audience, making us all sing along to Bob Marley.
Then the audience forced her back up on stage and made her sing their favourite song “Down on my knees” before she left. Wonderful, wonderful!
Between the concerts, the main stage had dj’s playing everything from old school R&B, South African house, Dancehall, reggaeton, Electro.. and songs you thought you had completely forgotten how to dance to. We danced, met fun people, and watched people of all ages showing off their advanced moves.
And at the last party in House on Fire, the dj’s mixed quite bad mainstream house with great South African beats and Angolan music. In the end, nobody actually cared, as all that was left in us was euphoria and dancing.
In House of Fire I found a tall Swazi guy that was as keen on dancing as I was – so we danced, danced and danced to the African beats until the place was almost empty and the music stopped. It was as pure as dancing gets – and we synced it perfectly. The best part of it? When the music stopped – we hugged, laughed, said thank you, and went separate ways. No “give me your number”, “hold my hand”, “let’s go somewhere” or other silly expectations that would have ruined it all. The dance had been fully appreciated and respected for what it was and I was the happiest kid on the planet because of that. I don’t even know this guys name, and I never will. For me he will always be that guy that danced really well, and kept a respectful distance. Such a perfect way to end the festival!
Another reason to love Mozambique
Pool party
Avenue
A walk through Maputo
Here’s a four minute tour through the city I currently call home. It’s a small part of my daily walk home from work, but I can assure you that it all looks different every day. This is an attempt to show you what my Maputo looks like; the contrasts, the people, the noise in the midst of the tanquility – and if you’re patient enough you’ll see me at some point. And those amazing cashew nuts I’ve been talking about.
The beautiful building in the beginning is Villa Algarve that once was the headquarters and “torture chamber” of the Portuguese secret police. Today, it is abandoned, run down, and home to people who don’t have anywhere else to sleep.
Bushfire festival 2012
So we spent our weekend in a magical place where anybody, no matter the age, hairstyle or social group, was invited to dance. I spoke to rasta men, American “Oh no he didn’t!” teenagers and UN ladies while brushing my teeth outside of the camping showers, and we had all been just as cold during the night. The second night Anna and I discovered that the sleeping bags could be zipped together into one huge sleeping bag, which made it much warmer – so happily I didn’t have to get up at 6am just to stand by the fireplace to warm up.
We ate amazing vegan karma food, had Savannas, watched enormous Mozambican puppets, looked for lost friends, sang along to wonderful Ayo’s medley of songs, sat in the sun, spoke to random people, did some market shopping, and danced – a lot. And I took photos. And at some times, I was doing all of that alone – because Anna was sleeping. She sleeps slightly more than normal I would say, and I have the issue that I sleep far less than I’m supposed to – so there was quite a big gap in between our sleeping hours. I didn’t mind as it gave me time to walk around and contemplate. But I still made a “Sleepy Anna” meme for her. Just because she’s the best, and because it’s hilarious.
Oh, and 3g roaming? Ha, I wish! My network provider (Vodacom) doesn’t even have a deal with Swaziland, so I didn’t even have normal reception. But hey – I was fine anyway. See? I’m not completely addicted to my phone. (If I get to dance instead, that is.)
Anyway, here are some glimpses from the festival. You can see many more here. Let me know what you think in the comments section below. I get really happy when you write little comments, it reminds me that you actually visit this space and that it’s not just my slightly weird diary. Enjoy!
Back from Bushfire
Oh my, what a beautiful festival! Hippies, babies, rappers, rastas, hipsters, teenagers, grandmas, campers, happy people, weirdos.. and a whole lot of people one just couldn’t in any way categorise – all dancing and singing together! There will be a lot more photos. First, however, there will be sleep.