AFRICAN DIRT

          It was an overcast sky above as we left town late one morning last weekend.  I was rid­ing in the back of the old Land Rover in the high set seat, exposed to the wind and sun, and enjoying the views as we ventured out toward the bomas of Kisongo.  The steep and verdant slopes at the base of Meru were showing below the extensive cloud cover, but the face and peak of the mountain were not exposed this day.  The dirt track was a selected stretch of road that ran throughout the rural villages, and the ground was quite damp in sections from the recent rains, exhibiting rich dark browns with vibrant greens showing through at the surface in the surrounding area and throughout the hills in the distance.  It was not a hot and dusty day, so the drivers had to acclimate themselves to some slightly muddier segments and few sections of loose, dry dirt track.  We drove around for awhile to find a suitable location to watch from the roadside.  We first turned onto a dirt road where other spectators were standing and waiting next to their vehicles, but soon after, word spread to us and them that the section of road where we were was cancelled from being part of the course.  We then followed the lead of others and left that area to relocate our viewing point.  We got back to the tarmac and crossed over the road to the petrol station for a refill on diesel before backtracking to a different turn off.  After the fill up and only a short distance further, we found the stretch of road where the rally cars were lining up and preparing for their start.  With three minute intervals between each consecutive car’s starting times, we watched a few rev up and speed off before deciding to relocate again and post up nearer to the finish.  We turned around and headed back down the main road and found another turn off that took us to the right spot.  With a nice view of the lush surroundings and the few final turns and straight away before the finish line, we decided to reside there and wait in the company of the other spectators.  There were several other cars parked and people hanging out chatting and anticipating the first car to reach that portion of track.  In the meantime, we enjoyed a bit of meandering close by, taking pictures of the captivating scenery as a few guys on dirt bikes were thrashing around for fun, entertaining themselves and the young, smiling bystanders.  Amidst a pleasant display of goats and donkeys, kids and motorcycles, and lush hills in the distance, the pending arrival of the rally cars was soon to come.  We all were contently waiting for the sound of the first racecar engine to fade into range from over the near, small hill and down the track, offering the first moment of the event's exhilaration and ending our anticipation.  With many local onlookers, plenty of them children, the setting seemed to me an interesting juxtaposition of the quiet, rural African life and the exciting and modern thrill of a rally car racing through one’s neighborhood.  It was a fulfilling day with the new experience and excitement of loud, customized engines of rally cars speeding by in a serene, rural setting with bomas scattered throughout under the thick clouds in the East African sky over Kisongo.  

 

Original Photos by E.Motta & J.Ward