To miss or not miss out on Busara 2012
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- Category: Travel
- Published on Thursday, 09 February 2012 10:09
- Written by Moses Serugo
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I am giving Sauti za Busara a miss this year. Blame it on personal recession blues that have had me resolve to be more frugal in 2012 limiting expenditure to strictly essential items. Not that Sauti za Busara ranks as non-essential expenditure. In the past it has afforded me a sweet escape to Zanzibar, (oh Zanzibar!), that idyllic Indian Ocean island Sipho Hotstix Mabhuse sang about. Which is the sad bit about missing out on the festival this year after three successive pilgrimages in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Trust me, the SzB team knows how to put together an impressive array of musicians, the ones with the right energy to turn the Old Fort into one big four-day party. The rule here is to pay more attention to the musical “non-entities” on the festival programme. They have a knack of up-staging the more familiar names.
It was there that I discovered Swaziland’s ethno-pop crown prince Elemotho, Kenya’s Luganda singing chanteuse Iddi Achieng, Comoros’ Nawal, Mozambique’s jazz greats The Moreira Project, South Africa’s Bongo-Muffin breakaway Thandiswa, Cameroun’s unassuming crooner Blick Bassy and Suki-Africa Sukiyaki All Stars; a bold experiment in Afro-oriental music fusion. My apologies to Joe [Kahirimbanyi]! I will not be at Ngonge Kongwe this year to see Qwela size up other festival artistes. Uganda’s premier live music outfit plays on Sunday February 12, 2012 the closing day of the festival at 4.40pm. On the three occasions I have been to SzB, Rachel Magoola and Omega Bugembe Okello brought a tonne of girl [vocal] power at the 2009 edition. Sadly, Juliana Kanyomozi didn’t pitch in 2010 putting her appearance as the festival’s opening act to waste. Her muteness on the matter had the grapevine abuzz with “festival jitters” rumours. Yet her cross-border hit Usiende Mbali would have worked as the perfect festival icebreaker. Meanwhile Percussion Discussion Afrika was forgettable at last year’s edition.
Incidentally our traditional dance troupes have always been a festival favourite. Something about our hip-shaking Bakisimba, the pelvic-gyrations on Tamenaibuga and the masculine rattling of the Runyege gets the festival mzunguz as high as kites. Then there’s that pot dance that culminated into a tower of sculptured clay on a nubile girl’s head. That they never get enough of despite it being such a Ugandan traditional dance troupe cliché! This year, Ndere Troupe, the forbearer of ensemble dancing is flying the representing in Zanzibar.
Most important though especially for “world music” artistes are the networking opportunities the festival offers by way of its “Movers and Shakers” sessions held at the Monsoon Restaurant at 3pm on festival days. Here at the Arab-styled restaurant where guests sit on the floor, a mini-global village of sorts chats about their genre while sipping strong coffee and nibbling sweet Swahili snacks.
This is more than just a talk shop. I must confess my agenda has always been to chat up artistes for interviews with my eyes set on walking away with a freebie world music CD. But for the world music artiste, the two hours are an invaluable resource in making sense of how to survive for choosing the path of ethno-music stardom. And who knows, the Womex guys may be interested as are the regional and global media and global music representatives. Just remember to carry name cards and samples of your music.
You should see the magnetic pull the Old Fort- principal festival venue- has on patrons. The party starts just before sunset right into the wee hours of the morning party for four days. The combination of Zanzibar’s searing heat, choice musical acts and the global village revelry merits SzB as definitely the world’s friendliest festival. That’s a truism if the 2010 edition is anything to go by. That year, with Zanzibar under a under the dark cloud brought on by an extended power outage, the organisers had an army of amiable muscled Busara “buddies” who would walk revellers back to their hotels, torches in hand.
Not everything is gleeful though. You have to book your accommodation way in advance, up to three months prior. The festival brings with it a de facto a “high season”. I remember prowling the narrow alleys of Stone Town deep in the night at my Busara debut in 2009 for a place to lay my weary head. There was literally no room at any inn. A frantic search with a drunken local for a guide yielded a room with used condoms until I settled for a more sanitized abode that was sadly a 30-minute drive from the festival venue. At my second appearance, I had the good sense to book into St. Monica’s Hostel (http://www.stmonicahostelzanzibar.s5.com/), no luxurious place I am afraid and it had nothing to do with their shared bathrooms. The 24-hour “load-shedding” meant generators could only run a couple of hours so the ceiling fans were mostly inactive in driving the sizzling heat away. My last trip last year came like a relief from my agony on the previous visits. Zanzibar Grand Palace (http://zanzibargrandpalace.com/) was a grand experience that someone else was obviously paying for including the prawn pizza and spiced ice cream I couldn’t get enough of.
The airport $30 airport departure tax may have been waived but Ugandans require a Yellow Fever vaccination certificate to enter Zanzibar. So much for the East African Community! Makes it worse than travelling to South Africa. And do not if immigration only offers you a two-week maximum stay. The East African Common Market Protocol that guarantees free movement of capital, goods and labour is yet to take effect there. Maybe I will have enough pocket change after Central Bank Governor Mutebile fixes our fiscal mess enough for me to hit SzB 2013 and soak up some musical wisdom. But miracles like Nneka, one of the SzB 2012 artistes still happen. The Nigerian/German star has a February 9, 2012 itinerant stop in Kampala before heading off to Zanzibar where she performs on Saturday at 10.30pm.
GOING NATIVE
Where to stay; The prudent thing would be to book in advance especially if you are on a shoestring budget like I was the previous two times. St. Monica’s Hostel comes highly recommended for budget accommodation while Zanzibar Grand Palace should cater for the high spender. More accommodation is available on the following link; http://zanzibar-islands.com/twpub/index.cgi
Where to eat; A local directed us to a buffet-like place at the corner of St. Monica’s Hostel that offers rice and stewed seafood for a song. But for festival revellers, Foroudani Park right outside The Old Fort, next to the ocean is the go to place. Zanzibari pizza (much like our own “rolex” chapatti), barbequed octopus (said to have aphrodisiac qualities), crunchy prawns, crabs, lobsters are all on offer. The heat (and the fact that the water is not desalinated) make sugarcane juice the perfect sundowner. Do try the coconut milk and you can keep the coconut shell for a souvenir.
Streetwise; Getting lost in the narrow alleys is generally accepted as part of the fun about being in Stone Town. That said remember to carry a map. For those using the ferry or sea boats from Dar-es-Salaam to Zanzibar, steer clear of those scrawny touts and head right to the vessel offices to make a booking. Always book in advance! Livingstone Restaurant right at the ocean has free Wi-Fi and if you are a Queen fan, swing by the Mercury Restaurant to pay homage to lead singer Freddie Mercury who was born in Zanzibar.
What to see; With festival performances starting in the late afternoon/ early evening, sightseeing is a great way to while the hours away. Guided tours and excursions are available of Zanzibar's historical Stone Town, the Spice Plantations, the Jozani Forest, home of the rare Kirk's Red Colobus monkey, the Prison Island, formerly a slave harbour and now a home to giant tortoises and beautiful peacocks.
Shopping; There are lots of curios for the free-spending tourist. The recommended garb to help beat off the heat is khanga “wraps”. For high-end fashion, haute couture queen, Doreen Mashika (http://doreenmashika.com/) comes highly recommended. Remember to bargain for anything that has no price tag!
MOSES SERUGO ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. )