Spending time, so simple.
Spending time with Nelson and his older brother Fernando on the beach in Tofo. Doesn’t have to be more complicated than his. April 2012.
Category: Videos
I love you so much, guey.
So, you’re having one of those days with a weird heavy sensation dragging you down from the moment you wake up. And then there’s little details enhancing random feelings of worthlessness, confusion and sadness. You want to give love, smiles and support but you need a hug yourself and miss your positive, strong and happy self. Not all days can be good days, you tell yourself.
And then your friend from many time-zones away writes a message, and you call her using this life-saving invention called Viber. She is working on a big project that has kept her awake all night, but she lets you talk. You complain, you tell her about the things that break your heart and the little details that drag you down. She listens, smiles while talking, boosts some of that confidence back into place, passes on some of her strength, gives you some real advice, some of her unforced wisdom.
You go home. You put loud music on. You try dancing it off but it doesn’t really work, there’s still sadness around.
Then she sends you this:
It doesn’t say much, but in the meantime – it says everything. And you know that you would do anything in the world to make sure this girl stays happy. Because you love her and that wise, strong and considerate chilango heart of hers.
(Yes, she gave me permission to upload the video. haha)
Bushfire festival 2012
I would like you to join me for a music festival in Swaziland the last weekend of May, here are a couple of good reasons:
Bushfire 2011
Ayo – Down on my knees
Jeremy Loops – Mission to the Sun
Nancy G & The Human Family – When I woke up this morning
Sakaki Mango & Limba Train Sound System – A fly on Russia
Lira – Wa Mpaleha
Napalma – Bigger Party
Ras Haitrm – Inity
The tickets for the three days of art, music and dancing are just 400 rand – we have ours already. Convinced to join? Get your tickets here. Woop!
Tell me where you’re going in life
Remember Tinashe from Victoria Falls? Meet his voice.
Out of the simple things in life, the rather insignificant ones – things are inspired.
Indeed.
Lengoma
Play, dance & some crazy stuff.
After the elections in Inhambane, I stayed among the palm trees and chose to make my way to the amazing beaches in Tofo. As most other travellers, I stayed at Fatimas nest which is situated beautifully right on the beach. The first day I met some people in the hostel bar but was completely exhausted after the elections and decided to just spend the evening at the beach, watch the sunset, and crash early.
After a long sleep, I woke up to the sound of the sea and decided to take a morning walk on the beach. As I was walking towards Tofinho beach, picking up pretty shells, I met the two young brothers Fernando and Nelson. They started following me, searching for seashells as well and giving me the nice one’s they were finding. We started playing, kicking sand, jumping around, running, throwing rocks into the water, eating cashew nuts.. At one point, I sat down to get my back away from the sun for a while. The brothers joined me and sat around playing with the seashells we had picked together. They were singing a little song in their local language and I was smiling inside. Their Portuguese wasn’t very good, they told me their ages and names and that they were currently on holidays from school. We didn’t need to talk much anyway, we were just playing and it was great. That’s what I love about kids, hanging out with them is often much more fruitful than interacting with adults. There are no weird social rules or limitations to keep in mind – one can just play, sing and jump as one pleases – or just hang out. I spent four hours with Fernando and Nelson and they followed me back to my hostel before running back to their home, shouting “see you tomorrow, Carolina!”.
My time in Tofo consisted of the hours I spent at the beach, plus the time I spent dancing, because during the rest of my time in paradise – I danced. First, I went with new friends to their home where we did a barbecue. Afterwards, we went to a club and started dancing.. and did so without stopping until the sun got up. Or maybe even longer. It was raw, real and fun. I get so happy when I get to dance that I never want to stop. Tofo gave me that and it came with amazing beaches and a very friendly people. So once again, I have found a place that I would like to return to some day. But as the cheesy Tofo-truck said – “Time will tell.”
Oh and as there are no photos from the different clubs we went to, I have some “crazy stuff” from Angola for you instead. And the Mozambican pride Lizha James of course. I really enjoy the music around here, it’s so much fun to dance to.
Adi Cudz feat. Yola Araujo – Coisa Doida (Crazy stuff)
Lizha James – Tote (Remix)
Haha, this was an all-in-one post. But hey, it’s friday!
On the road
I spent many hours in buses and cars on my easter trip. As some of you know, I keep notes of every busride, its cost and the hours travelled, so in total, during the 15 days I was away, I spent just above 110 hours sitting in some sort of a moving vehicle.
Spending time on the road is not an issue for me, it is a huge part of the experience and I find it extremely interesting. The people I meet, the things I see, the sounds I get to hear and sometimes the smells I have to endure.
Here’s a sneek peek into the moving parts of my two weeks of travelling Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia. Hopefully you will get a feeling of what it’s like.
The first video is from the Intercape bus from Johannesburg to Harare, which was the first time I encountered the fashion of collective travel-prayer. I had just met Lloyd, Prosper and Mercy and we were on our way out of Joburg at this moment, in the beginning of what turned out to be a very comfortable 19 hour busride.
This second video is about 12 hours later, on the same bus, after having crossed the Zimbabwean border. I was indulging in the views and we were reminiscing old stories from the past and guessing artists as the very randomly chosen music was shuffling through.
This video is from when I was forced to hitch-hike when the minibus I had taken from Kasane in Botswana broke down on in the middle of a highway. I hitched a ride with a huge petrol truck that took me and an old gentleman the two hours to the nearest town, Nata, for free.
The next video is from the local bus between the small town Ghanzi and the border between Botswana and Namibia, where I met the Kalahari girl Ketshepile and her little son Roonyi. This is a bus I simply jumped on after arriving to Ghanzi, because some people pointed me to it. It was completely full with people in the most random traditional clothing and what struck me the most was the fact that a lot of them seemed to be jumping on and off in the middle of the desert. This bus dropped me off just before the Namibian border, where I had to walk to get my passport stamped, and ended up on the other side by myself, basically waiting for a car to pass by and pick me up.
The last video is from when we were driving the ~400 km from the Namibian desert to Windhoek. Baldwin had dancehall, oldschool R&B and traditional Zimbabwean music in his C220, Nate Dogg was making his own party in the back seat, and I insisted on driving us both ways, as I was enjoying it so much. Never-ending highways, dirt roads and that tarred straight, beautiful, empty road in the middle of the desert that invited me to step on the gaspedal – it was blissful. After summing up the distances, I realized that I had driven almost 1000km in Namibia and it was really great to finally get my fix of driving.
So all these times were great, but you need to remember that if you can’t luv me now don luv me laitah! ..haha
Two dancing Guapis
I am feeling a bit guilty for not sharing any photos with you yet from my Easter vacation, but I promise that they are on their way. Until then, I would like to share this old video from when my dear Venezuelan guapi Daneff was visiting me in Copenhagen. On a random morning, we started dancing, playing around. And luckily, we saved this moment that I find hilariously entertaining. Maybe just for myself, but most probably for her as well, so I’m sharing.
Guapi mía, te extraño!
Arte na Rua
It’s Friday again. I’m falling in love with this city with all its cultural happenings and the many opportunities for weekend get-aways. We have to go abroad at least every 30 days to get our passports stamped and visa’s renewed, which gives us a great reason to travel a bit further away and explore. This weekend we’re going to the mysterious little Kingdom of Swaziland.
Here are some shots from last weekend and the “Arte na Rua” festival. One of my roomates was part of a contemporary dance performance, and later we saw and met with the super talented Tofo Tofo boys who are big superstars here. They are two Mozambicans got to dance together with Beyonce in one of her videos after she had found them on Youtube. Oh, the glories of the internetz!
