Last night I returned from OppiKoppi, South Africa’s largest and most legendary music festival.
“Oppi Koppie” means “on the hill” in Afrikaans.
About 20,000 of us gathered for three days on a dusty farm in rural Limpopo province. We listened to dozens of mostly South African musical acts of multiple genres; most of them were good, and some of them were outstanding. We camped out. We inhaled massive amounts of dust. We peed in prickly thorn bushes. We danced, and we got lost, and we walked, for miles and miles and miles. We did not shower. We made lots of new friends.
I don’t have the energy to write a detailed account of my oppi experience today. A longer post is coming soon. In the meantime, here are some shots I took on the first night of the festival. The lights were spectacular.
Eerie trees and lights, looking down on the main stage from the top of the koppie.
Watching a band from Joburg called Shadowclub.
Same act, different color.
Look carefully: The guy in the foreground has a scarf over his mouth. He’s trying to minimize his inhalation of dust. You can see the dust swirling in the light beams.
Crazy tree.
Same tree, different color.
A band called Taxi Violence.
Around the fire.
I’ll have more to say once the dust clears.
How have I never blogged about 44 Stanley Avenue, the coolest shopping and dining complex in Joburg, which is only five minutes from my house?
I guess it’s wrong to say I’ve never blogged about 44 Stanley; I’ve mentioned it countless times over the years (see here and here) when writing about specific restaurants or shops that are there. But I’ve never written a dedicated post about 44 Stanley as a destination and it’s about time I did – especially now, with the holidays upon us.
I’ve been dreadfully uninspired lately, struggling to think of anything I want to blog about despite having a long list of great ideas (many of which you, my readers, provided in September). I’m finding it hard to feel positive about life at the moment. But on Saturday Thorsten and I got the chance to visit Indwe Park, an indigenous garden and sculpture park in Braamfontein, and I knew I had my topic for today.
Given this week’s political nuclear bomb blast, it feels like a weird time to publish a light-hearted post about my recent (pre-election) jaunt through the United States. But I’m hoping you’ve have had enough of the U.S. election horror show – I know I have – and are ready (at least temporarily) for some wholesome American travel adventures. If so, please read on about my four-day visit to Maine, the northeastern-most state in the lower 48, with my sister, Susanna.
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It makes me smile, when I see it.