Holi Colour Festival

Following Pia’s visit , the Barefoot Bellas had another sister visit for a weekend. Bossy Bella’s sister, Serenity was coming up to attend the Holi Colour Festival with the Bellas as a birthday present. 
Bubbly Bella found the tickets for the Festival at a discounted price on Groupon (Score!!).
Holi is a Indian traditional Spring festival celebrating colour and love.
It has become an international craze, with events cropping up all over the world in springtime.
During the celebration people throw coloured chalk powder at each other, like. everyone, all the colour- all of it. It is a general free-for-all fun party day thing.

Brainy Bella and Serenity do the selfie thing :p

The day of the Festival arrived we all got dressed in our white clothes, put on some make-up (because we knew there would be tons of photos taken on that day) and made our way to Wanderers Cricket stadium in Rosebank. since Bubbly Bella was working she was going to meet us at the stadium. Just before we left the house, Bubbly called in a  panic because she couldn’t locate her tickets, our departure was delayed while we searched at home and she searched the mine field she calls her car. Bossy Bella enquired on the events Facebook page if we could purchase another ticket at the door and we were impressed at the organisers’ quick affirmative response . As with all good stories, the ticket was found in the nick of time (with our hair still looking fantastic).

The sunglasses squad

Naturally our first photo opportunity arose in the parking lot :p. We moved speedily through the queue despite the hordes of people herding into the event. Entering was like walking into a different world, there were screeching scantily clad women covered in dust, beer wielding men behaving like 5 year olds and the general feeling of elation pervaded the air. The food was stock standard festival grub. We went off to purchase our powder, which was vibrant yellow, orange, pink, blue, green and purple (and rather expensive). 

The main party was happening in front of the stage area. The organisers had set up a huge screen with a count down timer for each colour throw(which happened on the hour). Every hour the DJ playing would give his farewell and do the count down, resulting in a sudden rush of people to the stage area (mosh pit). We braved the throng, and weaving our way to the centre of the crowd, eagerly joined in the screaming anticipation and gyrating bodies. 

Gangsatlicious

ten - we pulled up our bandannas
nine - the sunglasses were lowered
eight - chalk packets ripped
seven - jumping intensifies
six - bandanna's lowered to allow for air intake
five 
four - half a packet of colour lost
three - bandanna's raised. again
two 
one... And there was coloured powder everywhere!  

A rainbow cloud of chalk

 It was like dancing inside a rainbow. Hunger motivated our departure from the colourful crowd. The fascinating activity of people watching was enhanced by the purchase of a hookah and food. 

DJ Fresh, one of the most popular DJ's in SA, was to play in the evening. As Serenity loves DJ Fresh and Bossy also goes a little crazy for him, we stayed until the temperature dropped and the sun disappeared. While Bossy and Serenity moved their bodies to the beat, Bubbly and Brainy treated themselves to mini doughnuts (Yum!).

And now the Bellas are a rainbow too :p

One last colour throw - with our remaining colour packet and frozen extremities - preceded our departure to The Colony Arms. 

Much love and light
The Barefoot Bellas

Road Rage - Taxis

Having grown up in a family that owned taxis* not much surprises me - not the way they are driven, the attitudes of the drivers, or the general state of taxi disrepair (well, occasionally there is one so broken down that even I have to wonder how the owner could put the vehicle on the road in good conscience), the sliding door operators (yes this is a thing), the owners, and even the passengers. Until I started commuting regularly with the Bubbly and Brainy Bellas, none of that stuff would make me blink. They, however, have a tendency to lose their minds when taxis perform illegal manoeuvres, like driving over an island to overtake, driving over or in a yellow line, taking off while the robot** is red, and Bubbly's personal favourite, their tendency to stop in the middle of the road to pick up passengers. These are just a few examples, however the last one still elicits honking, pointing, and a few choice words from Bubbly Bella.

A taxi reversing down a road in Johannesburg

I found that using taxis in Durban and in Johannesburg is very different. Some of the differences that I struggled to get my head around were that Johannesburg does not have local taxis or local taxi fare. You have to pay the full fare unless you want to walk. The other thing that really bothered me is that you have to catch a taxi to the centre of Johannesburg if you want to get to the surrounding towns. For example when I had to travel from Roodepoort to Randburg which is approximately 16km away, I had to take a taxi going all the way to the centre of Johannesburg in order to catch a different one to Randburg. Twenty five Rand and an hour and a half later I couldn't help but shake my head at the ridiculousness of this whole situation. One can only think that there are not enough taxis to cover the direct routes. I am grateful this isn't the situation in Durban where the local taxis and local fares are most convenient.




This taxi was trying to dodge traffic by driving off road. The brave lady in front refused to let it pass

Despite these complaints, we cannot dispute that taxis are a vital part of the transportation system in South Africa. If only they would follow the rules of the road...

Much love and light
Bossy Bella

*For our readers not native to South Africa, taxis are minivans that serve as the main form of public transport in our beautiful country. They are designed to carry up to 20 passengers, but are frequently observed with closer to 30 people squished inside. There are multiple owners of taxi companies that service different routes. Unfortunately these routes are sometimes in dispute which often results in violent conflict.

**Traffic lights in all other countries.