one rain jacket in your wardrobe, one might think you’d go for neutral
colors-blacks, browns, grays, perhaps. But alas, I have never been one for
neutrality, and that is evident in my choice of coats for the race. Two different shades of purple, that I then
accessorize with a knit purple hat and a purple scarf. So that gets up to like
4 shades of purple…
(Fellow Purple Pals-Cat, Amanda, Me and Amy)
I know, I know, fashion DISASTER. Point being, though, that you do
what you like on the race, in terms of fashion, especially on travel day. I
entered Africa wearing purple capris, compression socks, Chacos and a bamboo
hat from Thailand. I left Africa in the same pants, with a new purple shirt.
Yay travel day.
The point of this rambling blog was actually to describe a recent
travel time-our transition from Africa to Europe. This is an insider peek at
what actually goes on in a racer’s mind on the infamous travel day.
packing. I wish we could just stay in one place for more than a few
days/weeks. I also am having some
digestive issues, which is a unfortunate norm for travel days for me in Africa. We
were scheduled to leave at 7 and instructed to be ready to go by 6:30. Knowing
this is Africa, I didn’t expect an on-time departure, but tried to respect what
had been asked of me by being ready on time.
At 8am, we are told the bus has mechanical problems and hasn’t left
the depot yet. At 9am, we are told they should be leaving anytime. At 10am (3
hours late, 4 good conversations and one impromptu dance party later) we loaded
up the bus and headed to Nairobi. (This
is Africa-T.I.A. I look forward to the day when T.I.A. stands for This is
America.)
the original ETA was 9pm. We reached the border at 2pm, and waited there for
two hours for them to process our in-transit visas. At this point, I am
thinking, “I am really looking forward to
the coming days when I just travel with my team, or even better, when I am off
the race and travel by myself again, and don’t have to wait for an undermanned
passport control office to process 40 visas.”
We all realized it would be more than 5 hours to Nairobi from Kisumu
(the border town). At 11pm, we stopped at our final bathroom stop in Nakuru,
still a good 2-3.5 hours away from Nairobi. At this point, people are getting
desperate. Tired, grumpy and ready for the bed at Milimani.
At 2:15am, we pulled up to Milimani Backpacker’s Hostel, and promptly
crashed in our beds. I slept for approximately 4.5 hours before waking up to
more digestive troubles. This prompts me to think, Well today is the day we get out of Africa.
After a day spent in Nairobi, enjoying Java House treats and mailing
packages home, we left for the airport at 7pm. We took a bus, and squeezed most
of the squad plus luggage onto the bus. Every seat was filled, and some of the
guys sat on top of bags in the aisle. I
remembered how in Australia we thought it was a problem our Troopy only had 6
seats. Now I see that as a very spacious vehicle. My, how things have changed.
11pm, so we had some quality time in the Nairobi airport. We even got in some
more Java House, and I spent some of my last shillings on August’s issue of
Reader’s Digest.
Istanbul. After a brief layover in Istanbul-just long enough to grab a coffee
at Gloria Jean’s-we board our second flight to Dublin.
We arrived in Dublin around 2:30pm local time, and waited for the
rest of the squad for a few hours. We enjoyed Starbucks and McDonalds, and
western culture. It was a little overwhelming, but I really enjoyed putting
toilet paper down the toilet and washing my hands with warm water.
At 8pm, we left the airport to go to our campground, and by 10pm, I
was crashing in my tent, relieved to have finished what is reputedly one of the
more draining travel days on the race, and looking forward to a hot shower in
the morning.
All in all, it was quite an adventure. From taking a matatu in Ndongo
to the bus in Mbale to the bus stop in Kampala to another matatu to the hostel,
then a few days later, the bus to the city, then a bus to the airport, then two
plane rides and another bus ride later. Three currencies, three countries,
three continents, in 24 hours. Four currencies, four countries, forty eight
hours.
It was just
another day on the race and I proudly wore each shade of purple during it, to
stay warm and look good. 😉
