I decided to write this blog mostly for future Racers.
This will be a three part blog about all the different types of living situations I had throughout my race.
Starting with months one, two and three in Africa.
South Africa:
My team of 6 girls was split into two different homes. I lived with a wonderful and big family of 6. I shared a full-sized bed with a teammate and another teammate slept on a twin bed in our room. Septembers in Cape Town are cold and rainy. I wore every item of clothing I had in my pack in layers everyday. We took baths every other day with very minimal hot water. Ouma, grandmother in Afrikaans, cooked all the meals. The food was pretty standard: instant oats, instant coffee, curries, fish stews, cheese and tomato sandwiches, pasta, etc. But if you’re lucky you may be able to join the family for a weekend Braii, their traditional BBQ. South Africa is very westernized and we were able to find anything and everything at their stores. Toiletries are way cheaper and If I knew that, I would’ve waited to buy it all there instead of dropping mad bucks at Walmart.
Swaziland:
We had an all squad month. My team of 7 girls, lived in an old building with all kinds of interesting creatures crawling everywhere. We all set up our tents in one room, and used another to keep our packs which served as a changing room. There was a bathroom attached to the room but it was in terrible condition. It looked like something out of a horror film. After our first week, I started using the showers in the dorms where the other teams stayed. Hot water was a hit or miss. Power was also a hit or miss. October in Swaziland is very cold. And it monsoon’d pretty much every day. Luckily, after organizing their closet of donated clothes, we were able to borrow some very stylish sweaters to keep us warm. Our contact provided our squad with a kitchen so we cooked our own meals. Breakfast consisted of Cornflakes or instant Oats and instant coffee. For lunches we had tuna salad, fried eggs, sandwich meat and cheese, and lots of fruit options. Dinners consisted of Chili, Mexican, Stir-fry, Mac N’Cheese, Spaghetti and Brinner (breakfast for dinner). The store was far from our compound so snacks were not readily accessible. However, once a week I would send a list with the shoppers and get pretty much anything my little heart desired. The only thing I could not find were White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Cookies.
Mozambique:
My team lived in the bush of Africa. I tented outside while the rest of my team were split into two rooms. This was a very hot month with no fans, no breeze, and definitely no A.C. I’d wake up several times a night in a puddle of my own sweat. There were two showers and western toilets. There was no running water. We had to pump up from a well to fill up the tanks above the house every morning before we’d start our day. For breakfast we had oatmeal and instant nescafe coffee. For lunch we had freshly baked bread with tomatoes and veggies which were daily bought at the town market. And for dinners we had rice or noodles soaked in a curry sauce with vegetables and a little bit of meat. This was the least westernized place we lived in Africa. There was close to nothing in the town we lived in. And the closest city to us didn’t offer much. However, we didn’t miss it and took full advantage of their deliciously juicy mangoes which were very much in season. Between the 7 of us we had over 600 mangoes that month.
