AFRICABURN!!!

AFRICABURN!

I have no idea where to start. My weekend at Africaburn was so incredible. I had no idea what to expect but basically could never have imagined how wonderful it was.

My friends and I drove a really cheap rental car through the desert for 5 ½ hours to get there, and when we finally arrived at the Karoo I thought we had driven to the moon. We were seriously in the middle of nowhere; you couldn’t see anything for miles and way off in the distance were these beautiful mountains. The way camp was set up, all the tents were in a “C” shape, and then the open part was where all the burns took place, and all the art was in the middle. There was a really strange mix of people there. I met a lot of college students (lots of Americans) but there were also families and elderly people there and couples, mostly from Cape Town but also from all around Southern Africa. The art that people brought was really neat, most of it was interactive too. So people would paint a mural but then you could add to it, or they’d build a statue and you could scribble/sign it. All of the art was really hippyish so I loved it. I felt like I was living in the civil rights movement or something, everything was really chill, or encouraging for peace and happiness or to live with no regrets…it was really neat.

I basically spent all day walking around looking at art, doing activities (bead-making, face-paintng, dancing in random tents or doing some type of art) and then at night my friends and I walked around to tents that were turned into nightclubs and watched burns. It was so crazy, everyone walked around in costumes, I felt like I was in some Tim Burton Halloween movie but I loved it. I painted my face everyday and wore crazy clothes and didn’t shower for 4 days, by the last day I basically had temporary dreadlocks and my body was brown from all the dirt. My friends and I took a stove with us but it wouldnt’ actually boil water so I lived off PB & J and PB & Nutella sandwiches, and dried fruit…so healthy. (Basically since coming home I have yet to eat a sandwich and have been beyond healthy about my eating…)

Let’s see what else…I don’t really know actually it was just fantastic. The people there were all really cool and so friendly. I think it was the safest place I’ve been to in South Africa so far, everyone seriously shared everything. People would come over to our tent and offer us food and water and like I already said, all the art was participatory. It was one of those festivals where we were supposed to leave nothing behind, so it was also pretty eco-friendly. Our drive there was so beautiful (the boys got a flat tire which sucked for them but still it was so great) and we got really good grapes from some people off the side of the road when we drove through wine country and they were about the size of ping pong balls and very delicious.

I can’t really believe that my weekend happened because it all seemed so unreal but it was so great and I wish I could go back even though the festival is over. I want to go to Burning Man in the states now (possible road trip to Nevada maybe?)

Cheers!