Travel days are hands down my least favorite part of the race. Travel days entail lugging around our heavy packs, cramming way too many people into old vehicles, driving for hours on end, using disgusting bathrooms and eating nothing but PB&Js. For me it means motion sickness and holding my bladder and claustrophobia and usually a considerable amount of anxiety.
Tuesday, September 4, while many of you were going back to work after the holiday weekend, I had one of the absolute worst days of the race. My team, and one other team, were supposed to be traveling from Arusha, Tanzania, to Mwanza, Tanzania. From the get go I could tell it was gonna be one of those days, so I decided to keep notes and turn it in to a travel day blog. Hopefully this gives you a glimpse of what we go through at least once or twice a month.
(Sorry if this is hard to read, I can't get the formatting to cooperate).
4:30 a.m.: Wake-up call.
5:00 a.m.: Squeeze all 11 of us and our packs into three different taxis.
5:30 a.m.: Board our bus. I'm relieved to be in a row with two small girls because the seats are so tiny. At first I feel lucky to have the aisle, but later realize this means I will be smacked by bags and elbows all day long thanks to the 10 inch aisle. Bus hasn't even left yet and I start to feel sick because it's so hot and stuffy. Pop some pills and put on my eye mask and ear plugs.
6:15 a.m.: Bus leaves surprisingly close to on time. A random woman walks around and hands everyone each two pieces of a strange, orange hard candy.
6:30-8:30 a.m.: Attempt to sleep but unable because we make so many stops and people are now standing in the crowded aisles, hovering over me. The TV is also blaring with crazy African music.
8:30 a.m.: First rest stop. Have to pay to use the restroom. This is one of the most baffling things about Africa to me. I still maintain that they should be paying ME to use their filthy, dirty squatty potties. Sprint back to the bus because it's honking and starting to pull away. My friend Nicole attempts to buy bananas out the window from one of the many ladies surrounding our bus trying to sell us random snacks and knick knacks. Nicole gets upset the lady won't barter with her and refuses to buy them. Later realizes it was only a difference of about $.06 in our new currency.
8:45 a.m.: We're stopped a second time by the police, not entirely sure why. Somehow the music has been turned up, which I didn't realize was possible. My iPod is on full blast and I can barely hear it over the screaming on the TV.
10:00 a.m.: Candy lady passes out warm bottled soda to everyone. I pound two Coca-Cola Lights.
11:00 a.m.: Thanks to the sodas, I'm in need of a pit stop. Bus pulls over for the now 8th time, and a few of us try to get off to pee. The driver yells "No, Mzungus, no, no!" and won't let us go.
11:25 a.m.: Stop nine. Again we try to get off and they tell us they'll leave us if we do. We attempt to explain the urgency of the situation and their response: "Just hold it."
11:30 a.m.: Finally they stop and let us get out. Several African women shove past us in line for the squatty. I use the word "line" loosely. Not sure the concept has caught on here yet.
11:45 a.m.: Stop 11, police check number four. It's stifling hot on the bus. Of course our window won't budge. I can't figure out why no one else has their window open. We're all pretty on edge at this point, and the temperature on the bus isn't helping.
1:30 p.m.: Bus stops again. Three of us rush off to pee and this time they don't protest but only give us a minute or two before they start honking. After a quick scan we decide we'll just have to pee behind a building. Realize once it's too late that a whole group of people across the street can see us.
1:40 p.m.: Stop again. This time outside of a tire shop. Not sure what was wrong. I was reaching under my seat for something and a man trying to get off the bus full on shoves me out of the way. I'm soaked in sweat. My friend Suzanne in front of me grabs her water bottle and dumps it on her head in an attempt to cool off.
1:50 p.m.: On the road again. Eat PB&J number two. Decide I'll probably never eat PB&J again after the race. Meanwhile, the baby in the seat next to me has had an accident, and wasn't wearing a diaper. The mom just used her blanket to wipe it up and then put clean underwear on her. This is one of several times the baby will pee all over the poor lady.
4:00 p.m.: Stop 14. Pay 500 shillings to use the bathroom. More people crowd onto the bus. I wish I could say it was a scenic drive, but it was just desert. Everything was brown and dry and dead.
5:15 p.m.: Stop 16. About half the bus unloads, and there's quite a bit of confusion on whether or not this is our stop. Have to call the Pastor and put him on the phone with the driver.
7:00 p.m.: Finally our stop! So thankful the Pastor was there waiting for us. Loaded all 11 of us and our luggage into a single matatu (van). Again, had to pee really bad, but the Pastor reassures me we're only 6 kilometers away.
7:40 p.m.: After traffic and terribly bumpy roads, we arrive 40 minutes later. Well, not exactly arrive, but the van can't go any further up the steep, rocky road. So we unload and hike the 150 meters or so the rest of the way uphill.
8:00 p.m.: So relieved that we have beds again, although our mattresses have certainly seen better days. All five girls on my team will be sharing one bedroom. No running water, but we do have electricity. Learn that we have a squatty potty and bucket showers. Could be interesting for all of us to use one bathroom and one shower. Still up for debate whether the family of seven is also using said facilities.
8:30 p.m.: Eat a well-balanced dinner of plain noodles, french fries, beans, and a banana.
9:15 p.m.: Hit the sack, thanking God that the day is OVER. Try not to think about the 30-40 hour drive awaiting us to get to the capital in SouthernTanzania where we'll be flying out of at the end of the month.
Luckily I found some cute kiddos to cuddle the next morning.
