One of the great things about the race is that no two days are the same. Your situation can change drastically in a day. In an hour, even! But since I’m spending most of this month traveling to visit all the teams and take care of some visa stuff, my days are even more different. Yesterday was travel day for Allison and I…let me try to describe one day of life on the race…
4:45 am – Wake up. No, that is not a mistake. Wake up at 4:45 am, pack up our packs and taxi to the bus station.
5:20 am – Argue with ridiculous taxi driver who wants to charge us 5,000 Shillings ($3.70) for a 5 minute cab ride. Finally agree to pay 4,000 Tsh because he is starting to cause a scene. Make friends with the two British backpackers who have just climbed Kilimanjaro.
5:30 am – Carry my purse, daypack, lunch bag and huge backpack toward to bus to load. Slip on the gravel going downhill and fall on my tush. Sit there laughing until a Tanzanian comes and takes my backpack off of me so that I can get up. (Allison’s just standing there laughing at me while someone carries her pack for her!)
6:00 am – Pull out of Arusha heading to Dar Es Salaam.
9:00 am – Still going. Sun starts to beat down and it gets really hot. I mean, really hot.
11:00 am – We’re in the middle of nowhere. Trees, grass, dirt, that’s it. As far as you can see. When suddenly we make a sharp turn and we’re at a rest stop. An honest to goodness, 12 stall bathroom, restaurant, rest stop. Allison gets off while I stay on board to guard our stuff.
11:10 am – I decide to get off for a minute to throw my trash away since nobody else is on the bus. That’s when I realize I’m locked on board. Deep breath, don’t panic. It’s not like it’s 110 degrees on board and I’m not suffocating from the lack of oxygen. Nope, nothing like that. Everything’s good. Sit and wait for the bus driver to come back and let me off.
2:30 pm – We pull up to the bus stop exactly on time. To the minute. This is a historical moment as I am certain this has never before happened in all of Africa.
2:35 pm – Fight off the taxi drivers and porters pulling on my arms, my bags, my hair and anything else they can get their hands on. I do not need help. And then I practically fall down again moving my bag up onto the curb. I still do not need help, even though they are all pointing and laughing now.
3:40 pm – Our ride shows up over an hour late. This is more like it. 🙂
4:30 pm – Check into the YMCA where we’re staying for the night. We have the GIANT wooden stick that all keys are attached to. However, the key itself is not attached. So we’re locked out. Kyla’s stuff is already inside the room. Check at the reception desk for an extra key. They don’t have one. Of course not.
5:00 pm – Find a SUBWAY restaurant 2 blocks from the Y. Eat a delicious sub sandwich in AIR CONDITIONING and pinch ourselves to make sure we’re not dreaming.
6:00 pm – Wander into the Movenpick hotel. Aka…paradise. We walk around like we own the place, order ice cream and sit outside by the pool where there are peacocks roaming around. Decide our bus ride was worth it for this. 🙂
7:15 pm – Home sweet home. Back at the YMCA (sadly the Movenpick did not have a room for $5 per night like the Y.) Break into Kyla’s room, get her stuff and move next door to a room we can lock. Worship together with Allison and Erin.
10:00 pm – Fall sound asleep in my 12th bed in the last 15 nights. 🙂
