Three high school friends recently reunited for the first time in forty years at AfrikaBurn for their 60th birthdays! Their adventures at the festival (as more mature festival goers) reminded us why reunions, no matter how long-overdue, are a must!
Tankwa Karoo (14 May 2025) — As thousands of people recount their recent adventures from AfrikaBurn, Helen Patricia’s stood out in a big way. It wasn’t just because Helen’s story focused on the reunion of three high school friends who hadn’t been together in some forty years or because the three women were celebrating their 60th in the most iconic way (at one heck of a festival).
It wasn’t just for the humour intertwined in Helen’s recounting either. Instead, it was the sum of all these unique parts that made for a dazzling reminder (for anyone who might need it) to act on reunion plans, no matter how long they’re overdue or how far out of your comfort zone they might lead you!
From preschool teachers’ failed campsite jollifications that required exchanging massages for assistance to grooving with one’s hearing aid in tow, the adventure had us giggling and missing our long-lost friends!
As Helen writes:
“Three high school friends reunited at AfrikaBurn 2025 to celebrate turning 60. The one from New Zealand hadn’t seen the 2 others for 40 years. Another came from Switzerland.
The South African hired the Bushy Kamper Trailer. With her long-suffering husband, all tried in vain to force the flimsy tent pegs into the desert soil with a rubber mallet, after the gruelling ascent up the Katbakkies Pass, rattling across the corrugated dust, dredging up memories from 80’s discos at the Southern Suburbs’ Werdmuller Centre.
One wore a hearing aid but the ones who didn’t, couldn’t hear anything anyway, with all the shuddering.
The South African preschool teacher’s attempts at jollifying their campsite with bunting from last year’s school concert was underwhelming and blown away with the first strong winds on the 2nd day! This complete fail was redeemed by one of the group gifting osteopathic sessions to nearby campers on the massage table brought along.
Afrikaburn is a bit like the parable of the six blind men and the elephant, all having their own unique sensorial experience of a mammoth animal.
The 3 old, almost-deaf women got their own satisfying experience.
The Oasis of the Crone became their place, starting with a charming baptism into the Oasis Way by the beautiful Aimee, followed by a 2 and-a-half-hour Grounding Mirror Journey with a Dutch Sorceress…
…Their last evening ended where it started, at the Oasis, with Silent Disco Headphones and Dancing in the Desert with the sun setting and the Tetrahedon burning on the horizon, setting intentions within. It felt good to be a Crone.”
So, if you’re looking for a sign to connect with old friends, consider this it!
Sources: Helen Patricia via AfrikaBurn(Group)/Facebook
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