Over the past year this blog received an extraordinary amount of traffic from people looking for AfrikaBurn happy snaps, better known as naked photos in the default world*. From the simple “AfrikaBurn girl naked” to the long tail searches: “girl walking nude at afrika burn”. On the return of my second Burn there’s one AfrikaBurn myth that I can dispel with some confidence: the reality is less “free the nipple” and a whole lot more free hanging balls. Generally guys are just less photogenic in the buff. A notable exception to this was The Peacock we spotted a few times proudly prancing about, always with his water bottle on hand.
In 2014 I grew fairly attached to the Subterrafuge structures that towered over the flat plane and was thrilled when weather conditions caused the postponement of its burn to this year. The burn on the Friday night was bittersweet but dignified; the way the one tower fell into itself like a demolished skyscraper was pure artistry. In terms of sheer size the only art that came close to Subterrafuge this year was a piece of performance art involving stilt walkers that had a large devoted crowd following a large balloon that initially looked like a giant sperm cell. Any resemblance to sperm was forgotten as the balloon rose into the air shedding the material attached to reveal a regal trapeze artist. What followed was a performance that worked so perfectly with the elements and on a scale so spectacular, I can’t imagine it working anywhere else but right there, in that moment. Overall my AfrikaBurn experience was not quite as renewing as last year; trance music pumping at full blast across the dessert way past 8:00 each morning got me down towards the end. There’s a lot more to AfrikaBurn than just a party in the desert, this distracts from that. In the WTF Guide handed out at Die Hek (the gate) there’s one sentence that really struck me: “You look even better than last year**.” I did my best to convince a few in the camp that this sentence was especially written for them. In a culture built on collectiveness, an individual can still shine in a crowd of 10,000. AfrikaBurn: clothing optional, contribution mandatory. * AfrikaBurn is the real word, outside its gates is the default world ** Paraphrasing, my WTF Guide was swallowed up by a black hole in our vehicle Scroll through for amazing images by my Plus One.
I know you want more, click through for other perspectives and more pics of AfrikaBurn 2015:
Hennie Niemand – AfrikaBurn 2015
AfrikaBurn – a journey into the interior
Our AfrikaBurn adventure didn’t end when we left, a few days of decompression in the Karoo pushed the experience over the edge —> AfrikaBurn Decompression: Tankwa NP and the ghost town with cell signal
My post of 2014: AfrikaBurn.
Hey 🙂
I was and am the peacock, what a lovely time! Please could you send me the full quality picture of me in the sunset I see above, I would love to blow it up.
Thank you so much xxxx ❤
Sure thing Mark, you looked killer!
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