The beauty of my job is that I get to travel a lot. Sometimes it’s in swanky hotels, but more often than not I’m tenting it in the middle of nowhere. Now, while I do enjoy tenting and the magic of a lekker bushveld braai, the downside of this little piece of heaven is the mozzies (and other bugs). From my trips through Africa with Put Foot Rally to weekend music festivals, the mozzies have a way of putting a damper on things.
I’ve tried arm bands and whizzing gadgets, and even heard rumours that drinking lots of beer will keep these guys at bay. Unfortunately there’s actually evidence that drinking beer makes you MORE susceptible to mozzie bites. G&T’s do work (somewhat)… it’s apparently the quinine in the tonic, but I like to add the gin… just in case 😉
The only thing that has proven to work for me is a good spray-on repellent like Peaceful Sleep. We’ve all been there… around about sunset on day 2 of a festival, the dudes with arm bands and other gadgets comes begging for some of your spray, and halfway through the trip you’re all out and getting chowed. Please stop being that dude! Stop believing all the myths and magic and bring your own Peaceful Sleep… THE STUFF WORKS!
We got to Mieliepop Festival late on Tuesday, had a braai for some for the staff and only had time/energy to locate and unpack our tents, leaving the actual unpacking for the next morning. True as nuts, we woke up on Wed. with a layer of mozzies INSIDE our tent. Fortunately for me, in addition to their original aerosol repellent, Peaceful Sleep hooked me up with some of their room spray, which I was going to try out in the tent for the first time.
Biff’s Big 6 and Jetmaster were kind enough to hook us up with free braais and wood etc. which I set up in the camping grounds, so for the rest of the weekend festival goers were treated to the convenience of lit fires and a lekker vibey atmosphere right there in the camp grounds. Every evening though, as soon as the lights were switched on, the bugs came out. Fortunately, thanks to Peaceful Sleep there was now a free spray service on offer as well, and everyone had an epic 2017 Mieliepop Festival.
Last, but not least, the barge was turned into a twice-daily comedy stage this year (in addition to the regular booze cruises), and just like last year, we made a plan to braai on “The Lusty Oar” (The Fuzigish boys’ home-made raft)… and just like last year, we stayed out until after dark, but unfortunately we forgot the Peaceful Sleep on shore, and so the mozzies had a field day. So if you happen to find yourself joining us at Mieliepop 2018, please make sure to remind me to pack my spray 🙂
If you happen to have caught any pics of me at the braai, on the raft, or just chilling in front of the stages, please make sure to share them with me on twitter or facebook.
