Cape Town Daily Photo

Our IT department had the best end of year function that it’s ever had. On arrival at Ratanga Junction we found dozens of African drums positioned on benches – and a quartet of African men patiently waiting for us to finish taking our seats. As we quietened down the leader started banking out a simple rhythm on his drum. Without hesitation we took up our drums and joined in the rhythm.

For the next half hour or more the group from Drum Cafe taught our posse of 100 rhythmically-challenged IT geeks a series of basic rhythms that culminated in a finale comprising everything we’d learned. It’s difficult to explain how awesome the sound of 100 beating African drums is and how it seems to tug at the fibre of every African’s being. Group drumming with Drum Cafe – or any such group for that matter – certainly is one of those must-do experiences.