Dar Goat Races 2009: Meeting and Exceeding Expectations

It’s not often you can hold the bar high in Dar. However, today we did and the goats valiantly jumped over.


Most races were really won in the final "sprinting" stretch of the track


At the start / finish line -- almost like standing on Boylston at Fairfield for the Boston marathon

The Dar Goat Races attracted the most mzungus I’ve seen since I left Boston. And that’s saying something. It was shocking. It was also surprising how ‘normal’ this event felt; you entered to purchase tickets, you got a wrist-band, there were concessions surrounding a large race track. It made sense. That should not go under-appreciated.


Controlling race corruption and betting collusion :)

Each race is sponsored by a major company – and each goat is sponsored by a team of local residents. Costumes were encouraged. Goat names were required for goat registration. As a result, the public could bet a minimum 2,000 TSH (about USD $1.30) per race to cheer on your winner with hopes to share in the reward prizes.


Fashion inspired by the Derby, with African flair

In my first bet, I placed money on Lamb-sagne. He was the underdog, but did not pull through. The next race? O-baaaaa-ma. Apparently the goat named “Ndio, tunaweza” (Kiswahili: "Yes, we can!") raced before we arrived.


The Obama Kanga fabric transformed well to Race attire


Keeping it classy with Jenna and CJ between races


The "Goat-busters" earned points for creativity and for staying in costume despite the heat!


Cashing in for charity!


The inter-race rivalry among the goats was strongly felt even from the sidelines

While none of the goats I picked to win were victorious (who would have thought Hannah Goat-annah would be the dark horse victor in race 3?), this event made the day. While the Kentucky Derby is quite an affair, the Dar Goat Races are a close second!