#Travel

Yesterday I put on a photo exhibition. In prison.

No really, I did. These jail cells are adjacent to the atrium where my photos were displayed.

Strange, but true. Constitution Hill is a National Heritage Site. The 120-year-old fort/prison on Constitution Hill – which is just down the road from Melville, in Braamfontein – has played a pivotal role in South African history, from the first Anglo-Boer War through the apartheid struggle and beyond. Many important historical figures were imprisoned and tortured there, as were thousands of others whose lives and stories have long been forgotten. It’s an eerie, beautiful place – a good place for displaying photos.

As I told you in my previous post, I survived OppiKoppi 2012. It was challenging at times but totally worth it. For those of you considering a maiden OppiKoppi voyage next year, here are ten tips for a successful experience.

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.