My Forrest Gump Moment

A few days at the seaside in a slow-paced, gorgeous corner of Zanzibar. My leisure would not be complete without jogging, so I scouted a few routes around Matemwe on Google and then, sporting my old red Salomon cap against the African sun, I trotted out to meet the challenge. That presented itself soon in form of a tall brick wall where, according to satellite pictures, there used to be a beachside road. With no way around it I went to run along the spacious Muyuni beach, the ocean lapping on my running shoes. After failing to find more roads that apparently only exist on Google Maps I gave up and enjoyed the views, kids playing football or towing kites in the wind, and hundreds of crabs playing hide and seek in the water-sculpted cliffs separating the sand and the wild bush.

That was rather short and slightly boring due to the tourist ambience, so one of the other days I decided to run inward the island. Just after a few hundred meters I found myself in real Zanzibar. The asphalt of the road got replaced by a potted but very hard gravel road. No sign of any hotels or tourist traps of any size. Tiny fields and little shacks with people patiently offered their stock or produce, often very feeble. Men hanging out playing bao and other games, sometimes in agitated groups, probably gambling. A group of teens playing a fierce game of football on a dusty meadow, golden in the setting sun. One of the boys came over to cheerfully invite me to play with them. People walking steadily for kilometres (much more than cycling), women with bags, jugs, or firewood on their heads walking graciously and hands-free, with a flock of kids running around.

It was such a flock of kids that suddenly started to run with me!

Tomáš Fülöpp
Matemwe, Tanzania
July 3, 2024
Tomáš Fülöpp (2012)

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Tagsrunningforrest gumpchild
LanguageENGLISH Content typeARTICLELast updateOCTOBER 20, 2018 AT 01:46:40 UTC