Sing Songs Around A Campfire

When I was in the 6th Grade, my entire class took a week trip up into the mountains for camp.  We all split into four cabins, and it was kind of a big deal back then.   When I got home I felt kinda gypped because I thought we would all get a chance to sit around some campfire and sing Kumbaya!  It never happened!  Instead we sang songs in our cabins!  What!  I had an overall negative experience, and it played a major deciding role with every invite I received to go camping. 

First things first, I have to tell you why it has taken me this long to complete this goal.  For most of my life I have avoided the Great Outdoors like the plague.  I was never an outdoorsy person, and it wasn't until 2007 when I started traveling internationally and more extensively did I really begin to appreciate nature.  I've grown up in a city and been drowned by convenience my entire life.  For instance I am walking distance to TWO Starbucks, and they are only about 30 feet away from each other.  It had always been more appealing to me to stay in a 4 to 5 star resort than to be in the middle of nowhere with lizards in my shower and huge spiders on my toilet seat (okay...not gonna lie...I could have lived without the spiders on my toilet seat!).    Gasp!  How could this city girl be in the outdoors with no cell service?  How about my computer!

 The Campfire when visiting the San tribe in Botswana

One of the main reasons I traveled to Africa was to escape the city and all the accessibility, and to really appreciate the outdoors and life.  The only time my cell phone was on was to call my mom for 3 minutes (hello mom...make it quick... it's $5 a minute!).  I had gotten a disturbing email from my sister telling me that my grandma had suffered a head bleed from a fall, and was in the Intensive Care Unit.  I think during the entire month I was in Africa I was only on the internet for no more than one hour total, and it was mainly to check up on my grandma.  I didn't miss it at all!  Actually when I got back from Africa I even removed Internet and E-mail access from my phone.  I went from wanting an iPhone from not wanting one at all.  

I miss Africa, and one day I will go back.   I miss the complete darkness (I never truly knew complete darkness until I went to Africa), I miss gazing up at the stars,  and I especially miss sitting around the campfire dancing, singing, and just talking about life while listening to the wild animals in the background.  There is just nothing like it.  I am still no rugged outdoorsy chick, but I think I am a helluvalot more comfortable than I used to be.  I think their will be a lot more singing around the campfire in my future,  especially since I still haven't sang Kumbaya!

I document just about everything...so of course I have videos....




Jaco, my South African buddy, had been sick for a few days prior to singing, so he was making a ton of excuses why he couldn't sing. We bribed him with an entire US Dollar so he could finally sing for us. This is one of his original songs...pretty nifty, huh?




The following evening we took turns singing songs, and I truthfully can't remember what I sang. Last but certainly not least, we got Gladman, my Zimbabwean pal to sing a song from his country. This is proof that he was the last to sing because the fire was almost out! I wish I could translate it for you but I have no idea what he is singing!




In Botswana I got the chance to visit the San Tribe not once but twice. During the second visit, they had made this huge campfire for us, and the evening was filled with lots of food, singing and dancing! In the video above, the San tribe had picked a few people to sit around the campfire. The women were to sit around the San females, while the men were to dance to impress the ladies. I guess you can say it was an African version of Match.com blended with 'So You Think You Can Dance.' One of my friends from Chile tried so hard to impress the ladies, that he started doing flips that almost landed him in the fire!

You get bonus points if you can tell me what rap song I referred to 10 seconds into that last video. 

Date Accomplished:  September 12th, 2010