In the early months of our time in Nairobi, Trenton and I found a half-marathon in Moshi, Tanzania. It was lined up perfectly with when our second 90-day visa would expire so we decided to sign up for it. We quickly got to work convincing the volunteers from Tanzania (Sam and James) and our incoming volunteer in Nairobi (Matt) to sign up with us. They weren’t hard to sell.
Kilimanjaro Marathon
After flying through the night and much of the following day (on my return from Israel), I arrived in Nairobi with just enough time to buy a couple outfits and a toothbrush (all my luggage was lost) before getting some sleep. Matt, Trenton, and I were up early the next day to hop on a bus to Moshi, Tanzania. We got to the airport pick-up and grabbed a bite to eat while we waited for our bus. We started to get worried when the bus was over 20 minutes late. Trenton called the bus company and we were informed that the bus had skipped the airport stop without telling anyone. If we hurried, we could meet them at the next stop and get on there. We all had some choice words for the bus company as we ran to the nearest taxi driver and told him where to go. Luckily, we made it in time. Because we were the last ones on the bus, we were left with the worst seats for the 12-hour journey. On arrival, I hobbled off the bus and vowed to never save $40 like that again. Next time I’ll spend the extra money for a 1-hour flight.
After getting off the bus, we spotted a restaurant just across the street. Chrisburger served us up 7 (2 for me, 2 for Trenton, and 3 for Matt) of the best cheeseburgers East Africa has to offer. After polishing those off, we hopped on a bijaj (slang for bijaji, the Tanzanian word for a rickshaw) and rode to our hostel. Our driver got lost on the way and ended up getting in a minor collision with a car that was in the process of parallel parking. After getting to the hostel we learned that there weren’t enough beds for all of us even though Trenton had gotten us reservations weeks earlier. I bit the bullet and ended up spending the night in a tent on a patch of grass nearby. After a night of very little sleep, we were all up at 4AM to eat some food before the race.
I lined up at the start line feeling far from my best. The course brought us up the base of Kilimanjaro, so the first half was straight up. The only thing that made those first 6 miles bearable was the view of the mountain and all the spectators cheering us on. The course brought us through a couple different villages and the village kids loved seeing the thousands of racers make their way through their home. The benefit of climbing for the entire first half was that the second half was all down. This is probably one of the only half-marathons in existence where most runners run a faster second half than first half. After finishing, I quickly found James and grabbed a fruit smoothie. A couple minutes later Matt and Trenton crossed the finish line with smiles on their faces. Once we found Sam, all 5 of us grabbed a Kilimanjaro (the local beer) and sat down for some much needed rest.
Zanzibar
After a late night in Moshi with all the racers present, we had an early bus to Dar es Salaam. Even though it was 13 hours, the time on the coach bus felt incredible compared to our trip to Moshi two days earlier. After arriving in Dar, we had to get ourselves to the guesthouse that we would be staying at. It’s run by monks from the monastery in Hanga, Tanzania, so James and Sam were able to get us a good deal. Brother Kizito, the man in charge, showed us our rooms and got supper ready for us right away. After eating we walked to a nearby bar where Matt and Trenton each got a chicken kebab. I was still pretty hungry myself, but decided not to get anything.
The next morning I was thanking my luck when both Matt and Trenton had to excuse themselves from breakfast with food poisoning related issues. We don’t know for sure that it was the kebabs, but it was the only thing that just those two ate. After breakfast we made it to the ferry, bought tickets, and boarded our vessel. It was a short ride over and then we were in Stone Town. James, Sam, and I walked around and checked out the museum built where the old slave market used to exist. Zanzibar was used in the slave trade as a place to hold slaves while they were waiting for buyers or transportation. The ocean made escape virtually impossible. The island was also used to grow many different spices, and the spice plantations used slave labor to run.
That evening all 5 of us grouped back up and walked through an open-air food court. I tried shawarmas from 4 different food stands and discovered the best shawarma in Zanzibar. After eating, we hung out at a nearby bar and I was able to find a place that sold milkshakes. Before going to bed, we walked to the beach and went swimming. We also met the owner of a boat who was willing to take us out snorkeling the next day for about $5 a person.
After some very fun snorkeling in the morning we took a cab to Nungwi, the northern tip of the island. Nungwi is the area where most tourists going to Zanzibar stay. We were able to get rooms at a hostel before heading to the beach. On the way, we grabbed some drinks at a bar for locals. We were glad we had done this when we saw the prices being charged on the beach. After an afternoon and evening on the beach, we made it back to the hostel. We were woken up the next morning with a huge breakfast, complimentary with the room. Then it was time to say our goodbyes. Sam, James, and I were continuing on to Hanga Abbey. Matt and Trenton spent two more days in Zanzibar before flying back to Nairobi.
Hanga
A ferry ride back to Dar es Salaam and 17 hour bus ride later, we (Sam, James and I) pulled into Songea. Songea is the closest city to Hanga and home to the fabled Krista Park (a restaurant). Krista Park pizza isn’t the best I’ve ever had, but they’ve mastered one of the fundamentals. Sell to a starving crowd. For James and Sam, their trip to Songea around once a month has included Krista Park pizza from the start. I was thrilled to be able to give it a try. We ate quickly and walked to the inn across the street for a night of sleep.
The next morning, I picked up some kitenge fabric for myself. Kitenge are the dress shirts made from flashy and colorful fabrics that you can find all over East Africa. There is a Mama who will make custom kitenge in Hanga and I knew I wanted to bring one back to Nairobi with me. After buying fabric, the three of us paid a driver to bring us the 45 minutes from Songea to Hanga. It didn’t take long for me to see the benefits of being in a small Tanzanian village. It took the three of us over an hour to walk a quarter mile down the main road. James and Sam were called over to say hello to just about everyone we passed. They were all wondering how the marathon had gone and what else we had been up to. It was clear that James and Sam had become an integral part of the community in their time here.
The rest of the week in Hanga was packed with work and play. We spent time at St. Mary’s farm, clearing a hillside of brush with hoes and shovels. I worked in the hospital lab on several mornings and learnt how to run a number of blood and urine tests. I played football (soccer) with the monks and with some of the kids from the village. I spent a couple evenings resting in the Papaya Garden, a nice little seating area with drinks for sale. I even got to play Chief Ball. Chief Ball is a game that James and Sam created and can best be described as very physical basketball with soccer juggling in place of dribbling. The learning curve is steep, but by the end of the trip I had almost won a game or two.
This is the 4th BVC site that I have been able to spend time at this year. It’s been very interesting to see the similarities and differences. I remember Logan (my boss) telling me that there is no best site. Every site offers something unique and special. From what I’ve seen so far, that’s absolutely spot on.
Mbamba Bay
To close out my time in Tanzania, the three of us scheduled a car to drive us to Mbamba Bay. Beno, one of the drivers for the monastery, was thrilled to spend a weekend there with us. After narrowly avoiding a number of collisions on the curvy mountain roads, we arrived. Mbamba Bay is a small town on the shores of Lake Nyasa and I was blown away by the beauty of the water and surrounding mountains. Right away, we ran down to the beach and spent the afternoon relaxing and swimming. Before the sun had set, Beno spotted some more wazungu (white people). Three Scandinavian women going to med school in Norway, along with two Tanzanian ladies they had befriended at the hospital they were working at. We ended up spending most of our time with them for the remainder of the weekend. There wasn’t much to do besides hang out on the beach and that was fine with us.
All too soon, our time in Mbamba was up and it was time for me to get back to Nairobi. After another scary drive and one last night in Hanga, we were up early to make it to the airport in Songea. Sam and I both said our goodbyes to James and hopped on the morning flight to Dar es Salaam. From there, I continued on to Nairobi and Sam started the journey to Israel. He’s replacing me as the lone Johnnie in Tabgha for the next 2 months.
I just finished showing the rest of my family around Kenya for almost 2 weeks. It was a ton of fun to show them what I’ve been up to in person. I’m writing the blog post on our time together next.
Thanks for reading!