Run No. 191 - 14th October 2006
Question: Who are the Hash House Harriers?
Answer: The drinking club with a running/walking problem!
Another snoozy Saturday afternoon in Mombasa with Ramadan keeping most of the roads and beaches peaceful, so it was quite surprising to find eleven hashers turning up for this week’s Hash in Miritini. The Hash convoy headed west out of town after picking up snazzy looking GDT from the Saba Saba junction. The town may have been quiet but the road to Miritini was chocker block with the juggernauts of the various transport companies in the area, after playing chicken with them and surviving, the hyperventilating drivers at last pulled into Miritini railway station.
A circle was formed and this week’s Hare, Eric ‘Mzee Mouth’ Rupia welcomed back Horny Sunset who had gone off to ensnare herself a husband, and the wageni from Ujerumani, Beach Bum & Lilly Von Stupp. The absence of Kama Sutra and her gyrations (verbal & otherwise) was at once noted. The Hare in all his wisdom had NOT set a trail and so this would be a very live hash indeed. Off went the hounds crossing the railway line and sauntering into the unsuspecting township behind. A gang of local totos at once attached themselves to the invaders, acting as escorts and off course to ensure no funny business took place without them.
The township obliviously remembered the last Hash invasion as defences, in the form of great mounds of rocks, had been installed blocking the paths and manned by squads of warriors armed with spades & barrows. Ha! As if these could stop the newly invigorated Horny Sunset and wonderland Alice. Loping over the sides of the mounds, the two kicked dust in the warriors’ faces and left them whistling in admiration as the rest of the pack and the totos followed.
The FRB's raced along with the Hare, down a hill running alongside a great big iron pipe carrying water. Wonder who maintains this pipe, it certainly is decades old. Following the pipe, a glade of coconut trees and tall rushes appears. No way through the tall grass and bush unless you want to risk an encounter with a blue mouthed green mamba. Only way is to do a balancing act on the water pipe which snakes through the glade. Mzee Mouth makes it look easy. Don’t look down, as slipping and having that water pipe hit you where it hurts is not a recommended family planning method. Although Slippery when Wet did manage to fall without hurting herself.
Phew! made it and the FRBs wait for the walkers to catch up. Despite Beach Bum’s assertation that she’s never seen a longer one, Loong Hot One refuses to try the pipe and tries to find a way round. No luck and she has to do the acrobat. The pipe continues up a very steep hill and the hounds follow. The view at the top of the surrounding green hills, valleys and the meandering creek is worth the climb. Chantel, maskini suffering from a chest cold manages to wheeze up the hill and admire the local school.
The totos gallantly agree to show the walkers the short way back while the FRBs take one of Mzee Mouth’s loops through the countryside. Back then via villages and sandy paths and a walk alongside the railroad and an old water tower where steam trains used to fill up with water. Downs Downs were had at Sixty Nine’s local ‘Cool Breeze’ in Tudor and various punishments were handed out.