Tennis in Dar

Yesterday some of my roommates and I went to play tennis. Finally, something completely “normal” for me to do, or so I thought. (Even though seeing camels on beautiful beaches, wandering through exotic bazaars and watching stunning sunsets is really starting to seem normal.)

There are in fact tennis courts in Dar, and our guess is that they’re basically the only courts in Tanzania. Sure, some of the nice hotels probably have courts somewhere, but these are the only ones where we can play. Football, not tennis, is the dominant sport here. The complex (which is clearly visible on google earth and not far from where we live) has 15 courts in various states of repair. (You’ll notice on the Google Earth image that the courts are different colors- and that’s not due to them being different surfaces.) It costs about $4 entrance to the courts (I’m told there’s also a gym there), 80 cents per hour to rent a court, and about 80 cents per hour to hire a ball-boy. So it’s a pretty good deal. And yes, you read that correctly, you also get a (non-optional) ball-boy.

Playing in beautiful San Francisco involved fog rolling in over the courts, cool breezes, and pretty courts. Playing in Dar involves not stepping on the crickets that hop onto the court, grass growing out of the cracks on the court and sun/heat. So basically, exactly the same. The great part about playing in Dar is that 1- you can blame things on the cracks in the court, and 2- lessons only cost about $5 per hour. (So maybe I’ll finally learn how to serve well!) Plus in Dar, you get a wicked tan (or heat stroke, depending on how you look at it) and you never have to run after a ball.

So in sum:
-An hour of tennis… $5.60 per person
-Getting racket restrung after a string broke… $8
-Not having to run after miss-hit balls… priceless
-Watching one of your roommates swing and miss, then spin around in a circle from the force of her swing… priceless
-Watching the ball-boy try to contain his laughter while watching you and acrobatic roommate play … completely priceless

(Though in my roommate’s defense, which was NOT me, the ball completely changed direction after hitting a crack in the court.)