Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Travelling in the here and now
Travel2015
JACO Bouwer is a producer, actor, dancer and designer who has worked extensively in South Africa and overseas. He has won a of numerous awards including a Fleur de Cap for his direction of Spanner and a Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Drama in 2008. He studied at Das Arts in the Netherlands. His award-winning Samsa- masjien, which won the ATKV-Woorveertjie for Drama, is at the Baxter’s Flipside stage until January 31. How widely have you travelled?
I have been fortunate to have travelled quite extensively although mostly in Europe because I studied in Amsterdam. However, I have also been to western Africa, Japan and Israel and, more recently, to South America for a second time.
Where was your favourite holiday ?
Japan was quite magical. There is something sacred and nostalgic amid the frenzy. Japan is a country of interesting contrasts – the idyllic countryside atmosphere in stark contrast with the rush of people, bright lights and overload of Tokyo. One can be surrounded by glass, concrete and skyscrapers and then around the next corner, one would find an ancient little wooden bridge. And when the cherry blossoms bloom, the light is the colour of milk.
Your worst experience on a holiday?
I was abducted in Mali through a travel guide money scam. Afterwards I managed to “escape” I spent some more time in Dogon which is extraordinary as is its people. Their’s is an unique culture. Your funniest experience? When I sang karaoke in the very same bar that Bill Murray did in the film Lost in Translation. What do you avoid on holiday? If I can, I avoid tourists and taking pictures. I feel that by taking pictures or one’s own interaction of looking through the lens of the camera, can remove you from truly experiencing a place. Best meal abroad? Cebicheria La Mar Restaurant in Lima, Peru – they make the best ceviche I’ve ever had. Ceviche is a Peruvian dish of mainly raw fish and fresh lime.
Your favourite place to have sundowners on your travels?
Florería Atlántico in Recoleta, Buenos Aires. It’s a bar in a basement of sorts but you enter it through a florist on the street level. They make the best cocktails and they also stock an amazing Argentinian wine collection. I have found a new love for gin and they have some really special cocktails containing locally-made gin.
What have you learnt from your travels?
Travelling somehow helps to bring things into perspective. It confronts and distorts your point of view. And sometimes what I find most interesting is when I return home. For a brief moment one looks at it in a slightly different way which is important. Ideal travelling companion? Listening to Tindersticks. And my girlfriend.
Culture vulture or adrenalin junkie?
Culture vulture – I really like to explore the culture, food and architecture of a place. When I was in Amsterdam, I loved going to the cinema – those old-school, independent cinema houses where you can watch foreign films with Dutch subtitles. Or going to the theatre in Berlin at the Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz or Volksbuhne for more experimental work. And the Avignon Festival in France. I found it super exciting and inspiring with some of the most interesting theatre-makers in Europe. Greatest travel luxury? When flying, being bumped up to business class. It has happened to me twice . Holiday reading? It depends on whether I want to relax and escape or simply be inspired. On my most recent travels I took along Rebecca Solnit’s Wanderlust: A History of Walking, Italo Calvino’s Six Memos for the Next Millennium, Eben Venter’s SantaGamka and Walter Benjamin’s Berlin Childhood. Favourite drive? In the north of Argentina, in the province of Salta, there’s a circular drive from Salta to Cafayette and back. It has some of the most unbelievable landscapes I’ve ever seen – cutting through cactus forests, cloud forests and some of the best wine estates. Dream trip? Russia. One of my favourite film directors is Andrei Tarkovsky. It may sound somewhat overly romantic but there is something about the old worlds of Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky – the harshness of the climate, the opulence and decay. I would like to experience it all.
As a seasoned traveller and flyer can you share some tips?
I always pack my earplugs, sunblock, comfortable shoes, stomach pills, but above all, podcasts like Radiolab, This American Life and Meet the Composer. Where next? Namibia.