Fuji Fun

When I arrived in Stone Town, one of the first challenges I encountered was finding a way to exercise. Im no gym-addict, far from it, but countless chapatis and mandazis (deep-fried gifts from the Gods) take their toll. Living just minutes from a beach, the obvious option is to go for a morning swim. A nice thought, but as a woman who gets enough attention from being a visible foreigner in a Muslim community, it was not an option I considered for long.

Next I found a gym. Shame to waste the sunshine I thought, but they had a separate room for women with a working treadmill AND aerobics classes! So, for a while I made my little home there, taking classes with the same group of women a few times each week.

Then I found it. Where most of Stone Town’s athletics aficionados hang out in the early hours of the morning. A beautiful stretch of beach a 10 minute walk from my house. Here, every morning (even during Ramadhan!) you will find hundreds of people walking, running, skipping and jumping. Little kids no more than 10 years old all the way to grandparents. Alongside the fishermen putting their boats out to start their work day, women jog along, some of them full veiled, some of them sporting track suits. Several exercise groups can be seen and heard from quite a distance, as their members keep their motivations high with call and answer cheers.

The only catch is that to beat the heat, which starts early, and to get to work on time, committing to my health in this way means waking at 5:30am. A small price to pay though, to feel safe running with my headphones on (the soundtrack to Wicked blaring) while I run alongside the Indian Ocean as dawn breaks. Habari za asubuhi? Salaama kabisa, ahsante sana.