I accompany them today the eighth day, it is their sixteenth. They have been running every day so far.
The daily schedule can be briefly summarized
Breakfast with briefing. It is clarified how long they want to run, where and after how many kilometers there should be the first supply stop.
We drive to the place where they stopped the afternoon/evening before. Some days I wait after five, they wave me on, some right after the first ten kilometers. Short break to drink and recover. A few dates, half a banana, a yogurt - just nothing too hard on the stomach.
I can follow them via live tracking. While they're running, I push my way through Tunisian village and city traffic and along the manageable national roads; then I stop on the shoulder, sort through pictures, call up a few e-mails, answer them. Before I know it, two neon dots appear on the horizon.
Sometimes they run into the sunset. A wonderful atmosphere with great colors, in which for the two, however, the danger on the road quickly becomes great. The twilight is short, they are then hardly recognizable.
Long "days", short "nights
Arriving back at the accommodation, the two recover as best they can. Besides the pure running, the basic supply of sleeping, showering, eating, laundry, Horst and Mareike are busy with a lot of administration. Along the routes suitable accommodations are searched, the data package has to be charged, the translation plug-in for the website has to be upgraded, the cooling elements have to be put into a freezer. If there is one.
In addition, there are a multitude of small communication things. The social media are informed about the day, a press release is written and the weekly meeting with the French scientists is arranged. And unexpected little surprises keep popping up for which a solution has to be found. And on the side, both of them still go about their regular jobs. The trip is also a financial investment.
It's a lot. A rhythm has to find itself first.
Mareike and Horst have many fantastic approaches to what they would like to do in terms of sports, culture and communication work, and how. One part has already been started, another part still has to wait until routine has set in. As far as that is possible with planned 13 countries with nevertheless very different conditions. There will be long days and short nights.
Bonjour Photo Walks
It is further confirmed for me: Tunisia is a very friendly country. On my morning walks through Sousse or Tozeur, Horst and Mareike are still resting, almost everyone in the cities from child to old woman greets me in an attentive manner.
The bonjour is genuine. People's looks are open and interested. It touches me.
Isolated dealers and sellers try their luck, but usually let go quite quickly. Only a few are impertinent. I was particularly fascinated by Tozeur. The city exuded a cheerful vitality. Sousse was somewhat more subdued in mood.
The interest of the local population in the Cap-to-Kap project is confirmed. If you meet a person again, in a hotel, in a café, by chance on the street, then they tell you that they have looked at - usually the Facebook page - and put a "Like". Most of the time, it's hearts that are given. Again and again they also tell what own sports they practice. A kickboxer as a waiter, a runner at the reception. And, of course, soccer is what connects them. "Ah Cologne, Skhiri!"
And last but not least, it is also the bus that attracts attention. People say hello and honk their horns. A woman contacted us on Facebook, saying she was also a runner and had seen the bus. Wouldn't you like to have a coffee?
Moguls or driving by feel
Traffic is similar in all cities: you drive by feel. I like it. I don't feel uncomfortable amidst the crisscrossing mopeds, the many cars pushing into every gap and honking cabs, buses and vans. In between horse-drawn carts, stray dogs and passers-by. It demands attention. The myriad 30 zones have speed bumps, sometimes poorly visible, sometimes surprisingly placed in the middle of nowhere. There is a lot of police and National Guard presence. They check drivers. Us, too. Look briefly through the side window, usually wave us through.
On the side of the road, one of the country's great challenges continues to present itself to me: Garbage. There is so much that it becomes almost "normal" to the eye. The landscape is littered with plastic and garbage dumps. Sometimes this is burned, the car immediately fills with the acrid smell. Small herds of goats and sheep graze under the olive trees amidst sooty cars and the colorful plastic flowers of modernity. Their front feet tied together. Shepherd or shepherdess. Old men and children.
Prologue
There would still be a lot to tell. About the olive harvest and the intense fruity smell that penetrates into the car when they are pressed in the huge mills. Or about the unlit mopeds, on which everyone rides without age restriction, with their feet on the pedals or footboard. Even those vehicles and creatures on the highway that would make it onto traffic radio in Germany would be worth a story.
Besides what is then quite foreign, it is the many things that are quite similar - from teenagers on e-scooters and well-stocked wine racks to graffiti and business women to individualized lifestyles and international brands.
While I fly back tomorrow, Mareike and Horst continue to walk towards Djerba. Under a blazing sun, with headwind and in the midst of exhaust fumes, sand and dust. Past colorful markets, greeting people and countless olive trees.
Photo: Anja Kirig
Whoever would like to accompany and support them a bit on their way through Africa, as I do, is very welcome. I will be happy to answer any questions that arise, and they will put you in touch with them.