A Dream Come True

by Hakoma Boy (Kenya)

A leap into the unknown Kenya

A Dream Come True Ever since childhood I have always been passionate about football or soccer. The climax of all football tournaments is the World Cup which is held after every 4 years in a country chosen by the world football governing body FIFA. In 2010 for the first time ever FIFA chose to hold the tournament in Africa and specifically in South Africa. Being a citizen of Kenya and South Africa being in Southern Africa, I told myself that it was now or never as this is the closest geographically that the World Cup had ever been in relation to Kenya. Coincidentally, my employer, a local bank was sold to another bank and by 30th June 2010 I was retrenched. I spent most of my afternoons watching the World Cup games that had already started on 11th June and one afternoon while watching one of the world cup games, it hit me that I now had the opportunity to travel to South Africa and at least watch one game. Day 1 The distance from Nairobi to Johannesburg is approximately 3,000 kilometres. I booked a bus ticket to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and we left Nairobi on the morning of 4th July at 7 AM arriving at 10 PM on the same day. On disembarking, I made inquiries about transport to my next destination which was Lusaka, Zambia. I was informed to be at the bus station at 7 AM but the bus would only go as far as the border between Tanzania, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Day 2 Having set the alarm for 6 AM, I woke up even before it rang, took a quick shower had breakfast and was at the bus stage by 06:45 AM. The bus pulled out of the station at about 8 AM and made a myriad stops dropping and picking passengers. People would come in carrying live chickens and all kinds of luggage. At almost every stop people selling foodstuffs such as roasted maize, groundnuts and roast chicken would also enter the bus to sell their wares. Now and then the bus would also stop by the side of the road to allow people to answer the call of nature. At around 8 PM and having covered almost 75% of the journey the bus developed mechanical problems and we pulled on the side of the road to await a mechanic. The mechanic finally arrived after 2 hours and it took another 2 hours before the problem was fixed and the journey resumed. We arrived at the border at 3 AM and I managed to find accommodation at a lodging with a common bathroom and toilet for all lodgers. I had barely shut my eyes when the alarm rang at 7 AM signaling for me to wake up and resume my journey. Day 3 With temperatures hovering around 8 degrees Centigrade and no hot water in the lodging I let out several loud yells as I bathed from a bucket. When I was through I proceeded to the bus stage and was advised that the bus for Lusaka, Zambia would be leaving at 7 PM. With about 10 hours to kill I spent the day sampling the local beers and at exactly 7 PM the bus left the station for Lusaka. We arrived at 9 AM and I was advised that there was a direct bus leaving Lusaka for Johannesburg at 2 PM. Day 4 The bus left promptly at 2 PM and it was a wonderful trip as I had the opportunity of enjoying the mighty Victoria Falls as we crossed into Zimbabwe via Harare, Bulawayo and onto the border with South Africa. Day 5 At around 9 AM, I crossed the border into South Africa after stringent border formalities and by 2 PM we arrived in Johannesburg. The Rest of the Days I spent several days in Johannesburg enjoying both the day and night life and with the help of some old school mates from Kenya I managed to purchase a ticket for the 3rd place playoff between Germany and Uruguay in Port Elizabeth. On 10th July 2010, I achieved my dream of watching a World Cup game.