It’s the middle of the night when I lift my head of the pillow. I crawl out of bed on my hands and feet and look through the window of the narrow little room we sleep in. Through the cracks in the single glass window I can smell burned plastic. My eyes slowly adjust to the darkness and the vague outlines outside form recognisable shapes. A Landrover Defender is parked in the courtyard. The car sits heavy on its leafsprings and leans slightly backwards. I try to look through its windows, but I can’t make out very much since the inside is meticously packed top to bottom. Next to the car is a large open trailer. It has been packed to the brim. My hands slide over the wet window-frame and I have to wipe away the moister on the glass to see more. By now, my eyes are fully adjusted to the dark. Our car is parked in the corner of the courtyard, surrounded by walls and a gate. We are also a bit heavier packed, but you can hardly see this through our closed off windows.
I peer in the distance where see the glow of a small fire. The house we’re staying at is located next to a small “park”, more like a patch of grass. During the day people collect rubbish from the city, to burn on the grass at night to get a little warmth. It’s a very cold night and I hope they collected enough rubbish to stay warm. I let go of the window-frame and feel my way back to my pillow. My head falls onto it and I hope to catch my sleep again soon. After we approached the organisation of AfrikaBurn, Helga and I managed to be able to buy tickets through the re-selling of the tickets. Our enthusiasm went through the roof and we immediately changed our itinerary to accomodate this detour. We get the opportunity to stay with James and Yolandi in the days before AfrikaBurn. We met them when we stayed in Cape Town a few weeks earlier and they are also going to Burn. James and Yolandi are both industrial designers and they totally fit in hip Cape Town as we came to know and appreciate it.James takes this AfrikaBurn “project” very serious, as he does with all the projects they take on as a company. He puts his staff and workshop to use to make this a memorable festival for all of us. The fully packed trailer and cars are a result of this. We are taking everything to build a huge tent made out of fabric, wooden poles and rope, we are even making a kitchen and we’re taking 8x25L jerrycans with water. By bringing some stuff for the AfrikaBurn organisation, James managed to get us early access tickets. We leave one day before everyone else and this means we have one more day to make our camp before 12.000 people come hurdling in.
It is 5am when the alarm goes off. Helga and I almost bump into each other head first from the noise of the alarm which we are no longer used to. It at least makes sure that we are immediately wide awake. We slowly walk towards the kitchen, press the coffee machine to life and gather the last clothes and things that need to go into the car. An hour later we drive in a convoy from the courtyard towards the Tankwa Karoo desert.
We are being separated from James when we run into an old militairy truck with dead batteries who is also on its way to AfrikaBurn. Helga and I stop to help them. With a set of starter cables we try to boost the batteries, but when I see the wires giving off smoke I quickly pull everything loose and tell them that we cannot take any risks here. They will have to find another truck to help them out. They look disappointed, but they understand. The owner of the truck tries to convince me again that is a converted 12v system, but I won’t budge. We have too much to lose. We get into the car and start to chase James and his trailer. The road changes to sand, filled with corrugations and loose stones everywhere. The horizon is filled with dust clouds and other people on their way to Burn, one of the largest clouds in the distance will probably belong to James and Yolandi with their heavily loaded trailer. The moment we get off the main road, I have to pull up on the side of the road to let another car pass. When we continue the car pulls me strongly to the left and when I lean out of the window I can see one of the tires getting flat rapidly….Sh*t. Puncture. We put the car on the side of the road and quickly change our tire. We have some experience by now and within no time we are back on the road again towards the entrance of the festival. We are being welcomed by a merry group of people who are totally into the festival vibe. To our relief we quickly find James and Yolandi, we unload the stuff we brought for the organisation and start looking for a good spot to set up camp.Around us the desert turns into a giant encampment while we are concentrating on setting up our tent. We work until the last light, start again in the morning and are not finished until late afternoon. For our standards we are glamping. In the past 12 hours we managed to build a kitchen, set up a large gas cooker, a braai and set up a large tent from scratch to protect us against the sun, wind and sand. Both our cars are parked next to the tent for extra stability and kind of gives the idea of two sundowner decks. I ride around on a bicycle and plough through the desert sand. Most of the ground looks like a solid mass, but some places are rougher and the sand seems to come out from underneath. I’m amazed by all the bedouin style tents, the strange (mutant) vehicles and the artworks that were all transported over the same road we came from and are now built up to be looked at and burned at the end.
We go to sleep early and wake up to realise that AfrikaBurn is really starting today! During the whole day we see new people arrive and every spot where a tent could possibly fit is taken. We get some good coffee at the Alienz, a theme-camp that makes you a cappuccino or espresso in exchange for a compliment. Right next to the coffee tent is the Pancake Posse tent where we patiently wait for our pancakes while the volunteers are running around trying to serve everyone.Below we will try to describe the feeling of and ideas behind AfrikaBurn. Tickets: half a year before AfrikaBurn starts the tickets are up for sale. These 12.000 tickets are sold out quickly, months before the festival even starts. To be able to buy tickets you have to make a profile and fill in a questionnaire that makes you aware of the nature of the festival. In the weeks before the Burn, there is a re-selling of the tickets. People who bought tickets, but can’t make it anymore get a chance to hand in their tickets which will then be resold again for them by the organisation. Got tickets? Then it’s time to start thinking on how to get to the AfrikaBurn location which is in the middle of the Tankwa desert. It takes you at least 5 hours driving from Cape Town over a road that starts out as a tar road, but most of it is gravel, layered with a lot of dust. The dirt road is heavily corrugated and covered with sharp stones that are just waiting to empty your tires…Got transport? From the moment your drive into “Tankwa Town”, money is of no use. Advertising is prohibited and nothing is for sale (except for ice). You will have to be self sufficient for at least 7 days (food, water, camping gear) or hope for the generosity of others. You made it! What can you expect?I think the AfrikaBurn days are best described as a beautiful spring day, like the first warm day of the year. Slowly, the parks in the city fill up with people, but this time everyone is dressed up as if they are joining the Gay Parade. Everyone walks around with snacks, wine, rugs, skirts, umbrellas against the sun and happy faces. Unlike the cityparks there are activities all around. There is no set program so everyone walks, drives or catches a lift (on a mutant vehicle) until they find something they like. The diversity is immense, from art to theatre, dancing, music, eating, drinking, doodling, creating or just hanging around. These activities are offered by theme camps. These group camps are usually run by a group of friends and have a certain theme. A couple of examples: a hot outdoor shower, a spa, a library, a coffee tent, lectures, a post office, a pancake tent, making art tent and several places with Djs or bands playing.
At night some of the mutant vehicles and themecamps change into music platforms. The vehicles carry a DJ stand, lights and huge speakers. You just walk around until you find one that plays the music you like. The largest and most famous of these drive-around-Djs is the Spirit Train. The Spirit Train is a tractor with 5 carriages where the middle one is DJ booth. AfrikaBurn starts on a Monday and on Thursday night the first Burns begin. The small and large wooden artworks are set on fire while the public sits around in a large circle to watch. Most of these artworks are really build to burn, and you only see that when they are lit and the different sorts of wood burn at different times which makes for some spectacular sights.
The early morning glow slowly colours in our surroundings. It is early and we are on our way to the Namibian border. We park in front of the border office, get out of the car and smile at each other when we see the numbered offices: 1 til 6. All different cubicles for different authorities. We prepare for the worse. But surprisingly we find ourself walking from office to office in no time. Before we know it our passports are stamped, the car is checked and we’re driving into Namibia.
Our first impression is: empty. It is dry and the views seem endless. We drive passed the first small villages and directly to Fish River Canyon and the Ai-Ais Hotsprings.
The Fish River Canyon (Afrikaans: Visrivier Canyon or Visrivier Afgronde, German: Fischfluss Canyon), is located in the south of Namibia. It is the largest canyon in Africa, as well as the second most visited tourist attraction in Namibia. It features a gigantic ravine, in total about 100 miles (160 km) long, up to 27 km wide and in places almost 550 meters deep. The Fish River is the longest interior river in Namibia. It cuts deep into the plateau which is today dry, stony and sparsely covered with hardy drought-resistant plants. The river flows intermittently, usually flooding in late summer; the rest of the year it becomes a chain of long narrow pools. At the lower end of the Fish River Canyon, the hot springs resort of Ai-Ais is situated. Public view points are near Hobas, a camp site 70 km north of Ai-Ais. This part of the canyon is part of the Ai-Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park. The other 90 km of this canyon are privately owned.
The emptiness goes on. Luderitz is a small village which is know for its diamant industry and early German settlement We stay here for two days, look around and enjoy the peace and quiet. It feels like the whole population of Luderitz went to visit family, because nothing is happening here. We leave Luderitz to go to Sossusvlei, a place amongst the sand dunes. Sometimes it gets a little bit of rain which will then run down the 700m high sandslopes towards the lowest point. A layer of clay will form on this lowest point which will hold the water like a sponge. It’s like an oases surrounded by sanddunes. Sossusvlei (sometimes written Sossus Vlei) is a salt and clay pan surrounded by high red dunes, located in the southern part of the Namib Desert, in the Namib-Naukluft National Park of Namibia. The name “Sossusvlei” is often used in an extended meaning to refer to the surrounding area (including other neighbouring vleis such as Deadvlei and other high dunes), which is one of the major visitor attractions of Namibia. The name “Sossusvlei” is of mixed origin and roughly means “dead-end marsh”. Vlei is the Afrikaans word for “marsh”, while “sossus” is Nama for “no return” or “dead end”. Sossusvlei owes this name to the fact that it is an endorheic drainage basin (i.e., a drainage basin without outflows) for the ephemeral Tsauchab River.
On our way to Sossusvlei we see a large yellow cloud coming towards us. As everything around us turns darker and we get closer we see that it’s a sandstorm. We turn our lights on and by the time it hits us, it is like we just passed a large truck doing 140km/h. We stop and wait for the dust to clear up. A couple of minutes later it’s like nothing ever happened and we’re looking at a clear blue sky again. On our way we see gemsbokken, springbokken, zebras and ostriches.
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The sun comes up slowly and the first rays of light manage to get through the thick layer of dust. We’ve been awake for a while and are sitting on narrow wooden benches with our freshly brewed coffee and the map. The sun heats up our surroundings quickly and the heat plus the caffeine helps us to get going.
We pack up the tent, put the cutlery in its place and wash our plates. The sun shines down on our windscreen and we can see our reflections in the dusty window.
I’ve been on the road for almost 2 years, my hair has grown and now sits in a ponytail at the back of my head. It’s more convenience than fashion. The hairs on my chin form a messy beard. My nose and shoulders are raw and red because of the sun and my lips have deep creases. They hurt from time to time and start bleeding when I smile. I’m walking on my bare feet which have callusses and are brown from the dust. There is a faint trace of white on them: my flipflops. My hands are also dry and the tips of my fingers shed their skin due to physical work and the dry climate. I smile at my reflection and get behind the steering wheel.
We are now in the Northern part of Namibia, Kaokaland, and on our way to Sesfontein. Sesfontein is a dusty “town” cut in two by a broad sandy road full of corrugations. The first shed we pass has a hand made sign that says: Tyre repair shop. The door consists of an old shower curtain. An old CocaCola refrigerator fills the room and some men are sitting outside waiting for work. Unfortunately for them our tyres have survived the trip. The next shed has a sign in the same handwriting and says: “Bar”. Too early for that. A police car races by and leaves us in a cloud of dust, we even have to stop to let it clear up around us. We drive past another tyre repair shop with the same handwritten sign. It shows that people can actually make a living out of the bad roads surrounding Sesfontein.
We turn off into a small road that leads us to a fuel station. We are meeting a German couple here, Stefan and Annette, who have been on the road for two years now with their Mercedes G Wagon (The Beast), the same car that the Dutch and Australian army uses. Together we will travel through the more remote northern part of Namibia. This is a place where it is better to travel with multiple vehicles. It is dry, hot, navigating is a pain and you will have to prepare for days without getting groceries, fuel or water.
We know them from an earlier meet up in Capetown and are looking forward to the trip.
Together we drive west towards the Skeleton Coast. Alongside the road we see small huts made out of clay, where whole families live. The dogs, cows, goats and sometimes pigs reluctantly leave the road to make way for us. The women are usually dressed traditionally, with dark red clay on their skin and bare breasts. The men wear t-shirts with a traditional cloth around their waists which kind of looks like a coloured diaper. We drive on GPS coordinates and leave the small huts behind. The road is very corrugated with loose sand on top which makes for heavy dust clouds, but also makes it a bit more comfortable to drive on.
A white sedan in the middle of the road slows us down. Two men come running at us when they see us approach and gesticulate animately. As soon as I roll down my window it becomes clear that they broke down and that they want us to tow them out. I get out of the car to get a better look at the situation. This is a very deserted road and the men have been waiting for help for most of the day. The tracks in the sand show us that they tried to push the car out, but had no luck. Eventually we decide to tow the car for a little while to get it out of the thickest sand and hopefully to start again. It takes a little while but in the end we manage. The car runs again and we leave it and the two men behind so they can continue on their own on the sandy track: destination unknown.
We turn off again, onto an even smaller track. After a while we have to stop on the side of the road because of a car coming from the opposite direction. Through the open window we exchange pleasantries. A very large antenne on the roof of the sand coloured Landcruiser points to the fact that this is not just your average car. The man behind the wheel, with a tanned skin and a long white beard acknowledges this. He is a biologist and tells us that he works in this area and that he studies the lions here. We drive on slowly after meeting him. The moment we see a tree which has been trampled and eaten by an elephant we stop to collect firewood. The idea of having a fire seems like a very good idea now we know there are lions around.
A large rock wall protects us from the wind that night. The sky is very clear and the stars light up everything. Mesmerized we stare up until the cold forces us to bed. The red glow of the fire coloures the inside of our tent scarlet. It gives us a safe feeling, Even if it’s for a little while until we fall asleep.
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