The Kilimanjaro Marathon Weekend

The electricity, or rather lack of electricity, continued to be an issue through Friday and into Saturday, with only 3 hours of power in 36 hours. This extended period meant that I moved beyond the Electricity Happy Dance on to the Electricity Happy Scream. Most people would tell you that I am not one to scream, but the sight of the kitchen light on sent me racing out to the living room shrieking that the electricity was back on.

I then realised what I was doing and calmed down.

But I was very happy.

Sunday was the Marathon and I woke at 5.45 to the sound of some guy on a P.A. system giving a commentary (I assume) on the start up to the race. It is so hot here, that the main runners have to leave at 6 a.m. I am an early riser, but it was Sunday so nothing, not even the Kili marathon, was going to drag me out of bed at that time. So at 8, Cynthia and I set off into town, where we followed the start of the route where the final few were setting off, including people in wheelchairs.

This meant that we had technically missed the race, however we knew that there was to be a party afterwards, so we went to a cafe and relaxed.

Following a lift from a friend to the local university, we found ourselves in a stadium looking down on the finish line, with crowds all around us in a party mood. So we cheered-on any stragglers that ran in (they all manage to run that final 50m) and soaked up the atmosphere. Of course it wasn’t long before I remembered my stomach and Cynthia and I set off in search of food – a cloud of smoke behind the main stage suggested that there was barbequeued meat to be had. Sure enough there was a string of grills (fashioned from oil drums and the like) with various foods cooking; including the ever-present goat. But goat kebabs are good when you’re hungry, and grilled bananas (the accompaniment on offer) seemed to work well with them.

The sun was starting to penetrate us so we scuttled off in search of shade, and fortunately happened upon some coca-cola chairs under coca-cola umbrellas. (Coca cola has a strong advertising foot hold here, with just about every bar having their plastic chairs and most road signs being sponsored by them. Needless to say coke is prevalent in every drinks fridge).

But the shade was good and we found the lad next to us spoke excellent English, having lived with his aunty in Kent (!) so we were able to have a fine time chatting. Then the entertainment started up on the stage and we moved off to seek out a good viewpoint. Luck stayed with us, as the shade was just moving round to cover the lowest step and we were easily able to secure two places with excellent views (though I have to be honest, for the first half hour the hot concrete really burned our bottoms until it cooled down a bit.)

The music was excellent, and we soaked it up for an hour or two before catching a dalla dalla bus home. It was at this point that it seemed that our luck changed as the bus broke down, however a nice chap told us which road to walk down to get home and we set off, passing through a real outskirts-of-town village; true Africa. So we enjoyed a drink there (I shall spare you the toilet description) before continuing on home - quite an adventurous day!