Would you like some carnival with your new year?
Apparently in its fifth year, the last day of the old year saw the now traditional street carnival in downtown Johannesburg. Expecting something akin to Asakusa Samba which I enjoyed earlier this year in Japan, I was full of expectation.
As with many South African events, promotion was abysmal. This meant it was hard to get an idea of the route the parade would follow. However, through interpolation and my superb (ahem) knowledge of Jo’burg, I figured that if I’d park my car at the Civic theater, I’d be able to walk and enjoy the parade.
Though this was true and I arrived just in time to see the beginning of the show pass by on my little bit of De Korte street, there were practically no other spectators. Also, the parade was over in a mere 15 minutes. A long cry from the hours I spent watching the parade in Tokyo.
In the evening, Rouzeh and I went to a party thrown by hasher After Blast in Pretoria. The food, potluck style, was more than excellent, and so was the whiskey. Just before 12, an enormous storm hit the ridge on which we were partying, which meant there wasn’t any fireworks for miles around.